What do all the winners at this game have in common?

That is a good point as far as customer relations goes, but overall I believe the strongest point is we are hard workers. You must have the motivation, even when you are not motivated!

Personality, Charisma and the Audacity to act.

You can be the hardest worker in the world and still get nothing for it if you don't have a personality and if it's difficult for people to connect with you.

Look at Robert Kiyosaki. He's built an entire career, written books, held countless seminars, and made millions.....all based on some BS made up childhood stories. Hell, a majority of the "lessons" in Rich Dad, Poor Dad are common-frickin-sense that everyone pretty much knows. Say it with some charisma and play with the words a bit, with some storytelling, and you too can be a guru. Not saying I agree with or like the guy, but lots of people connect with the stories, his charismatic nature, and that common sense stuff. Many of them may think it's some revolutionary stuff, when in reality what they are really getting is an ego boost and more self-confidence that they "understand" and they can be successful too. What they learned, they've most likely known all along.....they just lacked some of the personality traits that make some of these gurus "winners.

That and you can't be afraid of or feel guilty about taking people's money. If you connect with that customer, make them feel great about the experience, and comfortable giving you their money for whatever service/product you provide, there's absolutely nothing to feel guilty or ashamed about. I've known a number of people that were extremely hard workers, had everything they needed to be a success, but when it came down to it they always wanted to give the customer "good deals", discounts, etc. to the point of affecting the bottom line. Know what you, your service/product are worth and stay true to that.

It's much less than 10... in THIS business, you're probably at 1% or lower.

Persistence, thick skin, eagerness to learn, able to adapt, able to see value in absolutely everything. I don't think that is really it though... to be an entrepreneur you need to have something different, and intangible. I don't think that everyone CAN be successful in this business... you need to ultimately have the drive, ambition, and the NEED for success. Not the WANT, because winners don't want.

Balls, consistency and ability to adapt to situations.

You need balls to actually make things happen, be it get on the phone or send out a bajillion emails.

You needs consistency to keep things going even if you little to no success, believe in a system and keep it moving forward at all times.

Adaptability allows you to make necessary changes to improve results, or spot that opportunity to sell something bigger.

And finally.... Luck.

I made 4.5k recurring in my first few hundred calls, I just hit it lucky, this gave me the confidence to keep going without "needing" to sell to survive.

I can't emphasise enough how much it means to get the first sale, if it comes early on and doesn't slow down too much then a monster has been created.

You think 10% make it "in this business"?! Try less than 1%. If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it.

Less than 1% - that's amazing really, I thought less than 10% was a long shot when reading it.

From what I can gather the general consensus is that you must be relatively likeable and keep going when the going gets tough. I think that's absolutely true but I'm certain that many hard working/likeable people have failed. I'm still of the opinion that there is something far bigger at play.

For me, if you look at the big players in any field, profession or following...they all know the history of their industry inside out. I've got a strong feeling that history always repeats itself. Maybe not blow for blow but the lessons learned back then ring true even today. After all human beings that wonder the earth today haven't changed all that much in the last few centuries.

I think iamnameless's point about actually 'needing' to win rather than wanting to win is a fundamental that definitely rings true.

Michael

PS, I'd love to know what your name is iamnameless...

Winners are naturally more driven, because many of them pursue "ideals" more than money/ And so with all the energy they create in that process, it brings money into the atmosphere. Money is attracted to energy.

If you're in it "to make money," you might.

But you probably won't.

Because something else...endless strategizing, the big sports game, going for a beer or dozen with the buds, jumping after the next shiny new thing...will matter more to you than "to make money" on any given day, and you'll go do that instead.

Being in it "to help people with _____", or even "to have fun talking and sharing value about ____" will take you a lot farther. It's a lot easier to stay and work on your business when you're fueled by these kinds of motivations. I don't have to "try" or "force myself" to stay and work on my business. I wish I had MORE freakin' time to work on it--I cannot possibly get everything done or even 10% of the ideas I want implemented worked on doing my FT job and this--it matters MORE to me than almost anything.

Money is an after-effect, not the cause.

Needing it was definitely the key for me.

Simply for the fact that I see no other option. It's either make big bucks but take responsibility working 40 hours a week running a business, or make crap bucks with a 'kind-of' guaranteed pay check working 40 hours a week for someone else.

It's the most blindingly obvious choice in my whole life, to be honest.

I'd MUCH rather worry where my next sale is coming from than mindlessly zone out in an office cubicle somewhere for a guaranteed $500 a week.

In no particular order:

Life Experience
A vision of the future
A skill set
Some intelligence
The ability to adapt
Persistance
Self confidence
A positive attitude
An interest in business and other people's businesses
Negotiation skills
Networking
A mentor, business partner, life partner or supportive family
Some interest, sport or hobby outside of work
Luck

Tony

define 'making it as a success' first, then we can answer you.

IS this working 40- 60 hours a week solid bringing in 6+ figure profits or spending 10-15 hours a week bringing in 500k and 20 hours a week having fun spending it, is it having a nice office and a 55 staffed company or outsourcing everything (mostly) to freelancers etc working from where you want.

To many , one of those four will resonate as 'success', to others not.

In any case TAKING ACTION and then correcting and improving that action then taking it again , rinse repeat, whilst understanding the business metrics so you're 'working' for the maximum profitablity that situation feasibly allows whether thats short or long term focussed .

Willingness to admit to weaknesses and seek alternatives to overcome them (pay someone else to deliver what you struggle with) , play up own strengths but do NOT allow them to dictate the businesses direction .

Honestly there are probably a million different advantages that can help you in IM, along with a million disadvantages that can drag you down.

So, I don't think it's really possible to come up with ONE reason why everyone who succeeds succeeds. However, I do think some factors are clearly more important than others, and these are definitely at the top of the list:

1. WILLING TO PROSPECT.

Whether it's cold calling, sending out e-mails, or whatever, you really need to be willing to put yourself out there and hustle the sale. In addition to having the "guts" to do this, you also need the stamina to keep it up for at least a few hours a week.

2. WILLING TO WORK HARD

Well, this is sort of a corollary of point 1, but IM is not a business that lets you do the "four hour workweek" thing. In fact, I kind of suspect that no such industry exists and that Tim Ferriss is for the most part full of it, but I digress. IM, at least in the beginning, is a bare minimum 30-40 hour a week gig, and that's assuming you're a quick learner.

3. REASONABLY SMART.

You need to be reasonably smart and competent to make it in IM. Not a genius, but you need at least some talent. You can't just outsource the hell out of everything and expect results, at some point you need to be able to use your own judgment and decide what will work. My guess is, most people who can't write a readable sentence, also probably can't succeed at IM. Just a guess.

4. PATIENT.

Most major success in IM comes after you've built up some key assets, like a big list, a popular website, connections, etc. If you don't have the patience to stick it out in the initial lean months, then you won't likely be around for the fat months.

I'm still not sure what "this business" is. Selling SEO? Selling websites? Selling marketing consulting? They're all different businesses.

If you're talking about getting clients in the offline world for online marketing services having seen thousands of people do this and hundreds (or more) succeed at it there is one thing that comes out ahead of everything else...

They find a way to get in contact with business owners...usually in person...sometimes by phone.

The second most important is learning to talk to business owners effectively.


If you want to talk about any kind of marketing your lead generating method is the most important.

You can have the greatest product in the world but if you don't have anyone you can sell it to you're dead.

That doesn't mean a great product or service isn't important (it's very important) but some way of generating business is far more important for your business success.

A great example is Microsoft. They have NEVER had the best software for browsing but they did have a deal with IBM to put software in every computer and it grew from there.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

You need to stay focused until you succeed once, then duplicate.. notice how people on here sell systems they created for themselves.. then sell to others..

FOCUS....don't keep moving on to the next shiny new thing
COMMON SENSE......use your gut and don't over think things
WORK ETHIC.......think smart and don't just work hard otherwise you will miss the big picture
PERSISTENCE....if you keep persisting you will eventually get there.
BALLS.....go in their hard
CHARM.....people love to be appreciated and buttered up
LOCATION.....to me and you that's number one on google to the rest of the world that's the position of your business in town

If there was one thing I could say was the most important and that is PERSISTENCE

It seems like MOST people here can extrapolate the meaning without a refined definition, and understand his generalization...but for the benefit of those who cant resist the temptation to get hung up on terminology ...I think he is referring to the "offline" game which includes all the above listed types.

All puns intended.

Understandably, many consultants appear to care heavily about making sure they are differentiated from the rest of us..., and so , that being the case...I understand the question.

Hope this helps.

I think the key to win in any game is not just to sell yourself but to understand the clients needs and to help them grow their business. Because that what any businessman will want.

So instead of just selling websites and services, become their consultant and help them to attract more clients.