By far the most important rule in Internet Marketing, and one that you MUST remember, is that you should always "Invest in Yourself!"
You have very likely heard this mantra repeated over and over and over again and yet you still don't have the first clue about what it means. Let me explain.
An internet business doesn't exist in a world of bricks and mortar, only in the virtual world of the internet, and in the heart and mind of its owner.
Essentially, your internet business consists of just one major component. YOU. You are your internet business.
If you had a real world business you could make improvements to the building or to the landscaping and people would see that improvements had been made and be drawn in to see what kind of improvements had been made in the merchandise that was being offered.
But with an internet business there is no physical building that can be improved. The only improvements that you can make are to yourself. That is what 'Invest in Yourself' means. You have to improve yourself in order to improve your internet business.
How do you invest in yourself? It's simple. You educate yourself about new marketing methods, new technologies that could benefit your business, etc. In short, you need more knowledge. The more knowledge you gain, the more your business will grow in response.
If you devote only one single hour a day to reading newsletters or articles that pertain to your business, it will add up to a lot of hours every month and you will be investing in yourself.
Enrol in a couple of courses, listen to teleseminars and webinars. These are the kinds of things that allow you to invest in yourself most effectively. This is the most important thing in online marketing.
Following on from investing in yourself is the principle of "Abundance Thinking".
What is 'Abundance Thinking'? There are two ways to think about business. The first is to believe that there are only a set number of customers out there and that you need to steal customers from your competitors in order to survive. This is 'Limited Supply' thinking and it is a very damaging way of approaching your business.
This type of thinking might allow you to make a reasonable income, but it doesn't allow you to maximize your income. It is the opposite of Abundance Thinking.
'Abundance Thinking' is the belief that there is a constant supply of new customers arriving in the marketplace, each with the power to bring even more customers with them via referrals etc. This mode of thinking is believes there is enough to go around for everyone and encourages us to work with others instead of against.
Abundance thinking places the good of the team above the good of the individual in the belief that as the team prospers, so each individual prospers accordingly. This allows a team to be built with individuals bringing various specialist skills to the table whereby the customer has the best possible deal, the team wins the business and each individual earns more than they would have done had they tried to win over to customer on their own.
Limited-supply thinking means that you hold on as tightly as you can to what you have. You do not share anything with anybody. What is yours is yours. Often time decisions are made by people who apply limited-supply thinking based upon what the competition is doing. Limited-supply thinking is basically a defensive position.
Abundance thinking is the exact opposite. It is proactive, customer focussed and thinks in terms of how things could be done better. This thinking builds relationships, makes more mature, healthy decisions and results in significantly less stress.
If you believe that there is plenty of business out there (Abundance Thinking) then you will have no problem in sharing.
The beautiful thing about abundance thinking is that it is contagious. The better you get at abundance thinking the more accepting of you your peers will become.
Joint ventures will develop more readily once you adopt an Abundance mentality, and you will see for yourself that there is more success in Abundance Thinking than in Limited Supply thinking.
You have very likely heard this mantra repeated over and over and over again and yet you still don't have the first clue about what it means. Let me explain.
An internet business doesn't exist in a world of bricks and mortar, only in the virtual world of the internet, and in the heart and mind of its owner.
Essentially, your internet business consists of just one major component. YOU. You are your internet business.
If you had a real world business you could make improvements to the building or to the landscaping and people would see that improvements had been made and be drawn in to see what kind of improvements had been made in the merchandise that was being offered.
But with an internet business there is no physical building that can be improved. The only improvements that you can make are to yourself. That is what 'Invest in Yourself' means. You have to improve yourself in order to improve your internet business.
How do you invest in yourself? It's simple. You educate yourself about new marketing methods, new technologies that could benefit your business, etc. In short, you need more knowledge. The more knowledge you gain, the more your business will grow in response.
If you devote only one single hour a day to reading newsletters or articles that pertain to your business, it will add up to a lot of hours every month and you will be investing in yourself.
Enrol in a couple of courses, listen to teleseminars and webinars. These are the kinds of things that allow you to invest in yourself most effectively. This is the most important thing in online marketing.
Following on from investing in yourself is the principle of "Abundance Thinking".
What is 'Abundance Thinking'? There are two ways to think about business. The first is to believe that there are only a set number of customers out there and that you need to steal customers from your competitors in order to survive. This is 'Limited Supply' thinking and it is a very damaging way of approaching your business.
This type of thinking might allow you to make a reasonable income, but it doesn't allow you to maximize your income. It is the opposite of Abundance Thinking.
'Abundance Thinking' is the belief that there is a constant supply of new customers arriving in the marketplace, each with the power to bring even more customers with them via referrals etc. This mode of thinking is believes there is enough to go around for everyone and encourages us to work with others instead of against.
Abundance thinking places the good of the team above the good of the individual in the belief that as the team prospers, so each individual prospers accordingly. This allows a team to be built with individuals bringing various specialist skills to the table whereby the customer has the best possible deal, the team wins the business and each individual earns more than they would have done had they tried to win over to customer on their own.
Limited-supply thinking means that you hold on as tightly as you can to what you have. You do not share anything with anybody. What is yours is yours. Often time decisions are made by people who apply limited-supply thinking based upon what the competition is doing. Limited-supply thinking is basically a defensive position.
Abundance thinking is the exact opposite. It is proactive, customer focussed and thinks in terms of how things could be done better. This thinking builds relationships, makes more mature, healthy decisions and results in significantly less stress.
If you believe that there is plenty of business out there (Abundance Thinking) then you will have no problem in sharing.
The beautiful thing about abundance thinking is that it is contagious. The better you get at abundance thinking the more accepting of you your peers will become.
Joint ventures will develop more readily once you adopt an Abundance mentality, and you will see for yourself that there is more success in Abundance Thinking than in Limited Supply thinking.
About the Author:
Ian Pelham is a marketer who has come through a very difficult time financially. He used debt consolidation loans to restructure his finances. Using a debt consolidation loan was one of the best things he did to rid himself of his bad debt.
