They approach problems, fear and failure differently to the ‘normal’ person.

Successful entrepreneurs know that the impossible is not a fact, it is an opinion!

Above all, the successful entrepreneur has an optimism and a zest for life that transforms everything they do.

21 Ways Successful Entrepreneurs Think Differently about Life, Fear, Failure and Success

#1 Failure is only failure if you believe it is

Hands up! Who knows a successful entrepreneur who has not experienced failure?

Take Jeff Bezos for example – founder and CEO of Amazon.com. Amazon was not always the huge success it is today and a long the way Amazon made some ‘wrong turns’ and ‘learning experiences’ as I call them. Examples include Amazon Auctions, Amazon zShops and more recently the Fire Phone.

But Jeff Bezos did not let those ‘failures’ define him. In referring to failed projects Bezos told the Business Insider Ignition conference in December 2014 that “I’ve made billions of dollars of failures at Amazon.com. Literally billions.”

He also told the conference that dwelling on the failures would be akin to having “a root canal with no anesthesia”.

Even the Big Internet Gurus will tell you they failed before they succeeded!

No great Entrepreneur has achieved much without first overcoming the Fear of Failure.

Failure does not define you.

The entrepreneurial journey will have many twists and tunes – sometimes you will be cash positive, sometimes you will be cash negative. It is how you handle these twists and turns that defines you!

The Top Entrepreneur makes Fear their Slave, not their Master!

“If you‘re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you‘re not doing anything very innovative.” – Woody Allen

Recommended Reading:  Failing Forward: How to Make the Most of Your Mistakes

#2 The meaning you attach to events determines your attitude and response

Your interpretation of events is what really matters!

For example, successful entrepreneurs ‘give up’ all the time. Except they don’t call it giving up!

I mean, if something is not working, what is the point in repeating it endlessly?

No entrepreneur gets every decision correct – Even the best sometimes hire the wrong staff or misjudge the market. (Think Jeff Bezos again)

Yet, so many people just can’t let go, even when it is obvious something is not working.  They are too focused on the time and money they have invested, imagining that somehow investing even more time and money would fix it!

Above all, successful entrepreneurs have great business judgement – they know when to cut their losses and move on!

As Albert Einstein said:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Of course this does not mean you should give up easily – we still need to work and apply ourselves but as one of my mentors said to me many years ago: “He always reserved the right to change his mind about anything in the light of new information…”

I have always thought that a good strategy to live by.

In any case, no time is ever wasted if you learned something new or grow as a result!

#3 Successful Entrepreneurs take responsibility.

Successful people don’t blame others, they take responsibility for their outcomes.

Losers on the other hand make others responsible for their failure.

Doe Zantamata, the creator of the Happiness in Your Life book series has something very powerful to say about responsibility and blaming others…

“If a person doesn’t want to take responsibility for their actions, they may try to blame others. Don’t accept blame or try to fix things when you’ve done nothing wrong. They need to learn that if they want different outcomes, they will have to make different choices. If you fix things for them, it deprives them from learning to take responsibility and their actions will repeat with different circumstances. You’ll then be the first they’ll blame or try to have fix things for them because you did before. That can lead to a very destructive cycle which will only stop when you do.”

#4 Successful Entrepreneurs ask better questions

Successful entrepreneurs know that the questions they ask yourself determine their feelings.

We have conversations that are going on in our head all the time. These ‘conversations’ determine our feelings!

Ask yourself poor questions, get poor answers.

Common conversations entrepreneurs have include:

What if this doesn’t work out?

What if I can’t make payroll this month?

On the other hand, successful entrepreneurs ask creative and inspiring questions like:

What is the problem I’m looking to solve?

Who is going to buy and why?

How will my idea benefit my customers and society?

Recommended Reading: 5 questions entrepreneurs should ask themselves

I like this question in particular…

Are you learning from the mistakes you’ve made?

You are in charge of your feelings.

#5 Money is merely a form of energy

For many entrepreneurs, their biggest worry is debt / money.

Be an entrepreneur long enough and the chances are high that you will have face bankruptcy or having to make arrangements with our creditors.

When you’re in debt, you’re controlled.

But what if you looked at it differently?

There’s an old banking proverb: “If you owe the bank thousands (a small amount), then you have a problem. If you owe the bank millions (a large amount), then the bank has a problem.”

Or to put it another way: “If you owe the bank thousands (a small amount), then the bank owns you. If you owe the bank millions (a large amount), then you own the bank.”

Many years ago, a mentor of mine called Stuart Wilde gave me an education about debt.

Stuart pointed out, that when you’re in the business of lending money, you actually allow for some people not paying you back.

In fact, he said, “Barry, if a certain percentage of borrowers did not repay occasionally it would upset the whole apple cart!”

I mean, they had factored in risk and bad debt and it would be a shame to disappoint them!

OK, tongue in cheek, but hopefully you get the point.

Of course, if you borrow money you should use your best endeavors to repay – but never let that debt own you or destroy you!

In his book, The Trick To Money Is Having Some, Stuart Wilde shows you that money is merely a form of energy, and that the difference between having it and not having it is merely a small but subtle shift in consciousness.

One final thought here…

Average people think MONEY is the root of all evil. Rich people believe POVERTY is the root of all evil.

#6 Successful Entrepreneurs focus on the opportunities

A successful entrepreneur is always on the look out for new profitable opportunities that fit in with their personal objectives and long term vision.

The average entrepreneur on the other hand is more likely to focus on the obstacles, what can go wrong and the risk.

The successful entrepreneur is comfortable with calculated risk!

#7 Every no is one closer to a yes

Long before I even knew what an entrepreneur was, I worked as a direct sales person. (commission only).

This involved knocking on a lot of doors – and I experienced a lot of rejection.

To start with, hearing NO got me down.

But I was fortunate in having a sales manager who helped me reinterpret NO in a more positive way.

He would say:

“Barry, every NO means you’re one closer to the YES.”

Maybe I was a little more ‘innocent’ than the average person – but that made sense to me!

(We even worked back from my commissions what each No was worth! A massive $4 a rejection – and that was back in 1982!)

As you can imagine, when I started to interpret every No and slammed door as being worth $4, I felt entirely different about the process!

Now, of course, you should not go off and fail and fail and fail indefinitely. If something is not working, you should determine why and one great way to do that is to hire a Mentor (like my sales manager) or join a Mastermind Group.

The greatest entrepreneurs have heard the most no’s! Have failed the most!

Remember, as Zig Ziglar said:

“Each failure brings you one step closer to success.”

#8 This is NOT how the story is going to END

Every entrepreneur has challenges to overcome – and the most successful entrepreneurs often have had the most challenges to overcome.

They don’t dwell on the bad times – they know the final outcome is in their hands.

Remember:

“At any given moment, you have the power to say that this is NOT how the story is going to END”

Christine Mason Miller

Recommended Reading: The Perfect Day Formula

#9 Successful entrepreneurs are not afraid of failure.

A relatively new term in entrepreneurial jargon is the term “fail forward.”

I’m not sure if everybody understands it. You see, many of us feel that we succeed forward.

But it doesn’t work that way. We fail forward.

Again, ask yourselves the questions every time you fail, “What’s good about this? What have I learned? How can I reinterpret this in a positive way?”

When I ask people, What is they are fearful of?

I get replies like: “Well, I’m afraid I’ll look like a fool” or “I’m afraid that people will realize I’m not as successful as I thought I was, or I pretend to be, or whatever.”

I like to talk about what I call the worst case scenario.

What’s good about failure?

Say that to most people and they will say nothing!

But again it is a matter of interpretation.

How about turning it around and saying instead:

‘You have just learned something that doesn’t work” or “How not to do something’

Can you see that that’s a better way of interpreting failure than just saying:

“I failed! It’s the end of the world!”

My friend Craig Ballantyne signed of an email recently saying:

Be prepared to stumble.

He went on to say:

“Fail forward. Learn your lessons. Move on. Never stop. Keep growing. Act in the face of fear and build extreme self-confidence. Bring the Energy & Enthusiasm. Celebrate each victory and build on your momentum.”

These are the qualities of every successful entrepreneur!

Recommended Reading: Failing Forward

#10 An successful entrepreneur knows there is no such thing as luck.

I’ve always worked very, very hard, and the harder I worked, the luckier I got. – Alan Bond

#11 Laugh, even on your darkest days!

There will be challenging days, but in the end how you handle those challenges determines your eventual success.

Count your blessings every day. There is always something to be happy about if you ask yourself the correct questions.

I’m a big fan of Rudyard Kipling’s Poem: If

These lines in particular I have always felt related well to entrepreneurs….

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same…

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it…

#12 Successful entrepreneurs do not moan, bitch or complain!

A successful entrepreneur know that they have the power to create the life of their dreams.

They know that the outcome is always down to them – they are responsible for their business, wealth, relationships and health.

Successful entrepreneurs do not moan, bitch or complain!

#13 Successful entrepreneurs know that time is more important than money

A successful entrepreneur never trades time for money.

#14 The best entrepreneurs are great listeners

Remember we have two ears and one mouth, use them proportionally.

The more you listen, they more you discover. 

I remember as a young sales person being told that telling is not selling and if I wanted to succeed in selling I needed to ask questions.

When you ask questions, you have to listen.

More importantly the other party (buyer) feels they are part of the process. They are buying, rather than being sold!

Great entrepreneurs use smart questioning to build their businesses.

#15 Truth Matters!

Successful entrepreneurs don’t fool (BS) themselves. When business is good they celebrate and see how it can be even better, but when they have challenges, they are honest about it, they don’t pretend.

They are positive realists who understand risk and appreciate that whatever their financial position, they are in control of it.

“Truth shakes out when ideas and perspectives are banged against each other” – Jeff Bezos

Truth really matters – beware of Fake Gurus.

#16 Successful Entrepreneurs have Great Vision

Successful entrepreneurs never stop aspiring to even greater success.

They know that what you focus on is what you get!

A strong desire to achieve something great is the secret sauce of all great entrepreneurs.

As Real Estate Entrepreneur and Bestselling Author Frank McKinney puts it:

“Motivation washes off and goes down the drain with the soap at night, inspiration lasts about as long as a bad sunburn, but aspiration can alter your DNA and forever change your life, and in turn, the lives of those you love.”

See yourself as the success you really are, driving the car you wish, taking the vacations you wish and living in the home you wish.

#17 Stay Away From Negative People – They Have A Problem For Every Solution

A successful entrepreneur knows that – Impossible is not a fact, it’s an opinion.

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”

Muhammad Ali

#18 Successful Entrepreneurs have no tolerance for drama and fake people

Top entrepreneurs are very selective in their friendships and relationships.

Social Media can give the impression that the modern entrepreneur is a very social being – and often they are. But anyone ever involved in a Start Up will tell you that the life of an entrepreneur is lonely. Long hours, ‘worry’ and pressure are common and we all handle that differently.

One thing for sure, is you have to be selective in your friends and the ‘distractions’ you allow. Reaching your goals take grit and determination and you really don’t want anyone in your life who distracts you or adds to that pressure!

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs are actually quite anti-social. They recognize they have no time to waste. They have no time for gossip.

Sometimes those who don’t socialize much aren’t actually anti-social, they just have no tolerance for drama and fake people

#19 It is not what happens that matters…

“Man is Affected not by events, but by the view he takes of them” – Epictetus

#20 Contribution is your legacy

Successful entrepreneurs are driven by contribution. Sure, they may have been motivated by making money and success but ultimately it is the difference that we make in the lives of others and society that gives us our greatest satisfaction.

And I am not just talking about how entrepreneurs stimulate the economy, in terms of employment, investment and contribution to the GDP. 

#21 Successful Entrepreneurs believe in Self-education

Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune. – Jim Rohn

Personally, I’m a great believer in things such as masterminds and groups of people collaborating together and sharing what they know. Mastermind Groups are a great way to create deep and lasting connections with some incredible people and today some of my closest friendships started in a Mastermind Group.

Masterminds are about sharing what is working – but also they can on occasion be about sharing about what is not working!

Don’t make friends who are comfortable to be with. Make friends who will force you to lever yourself up

– Thomas J. Watson

Seek out others that challenge your thinking.The reality is that many times the greatest support and inspiration for an entrepreneur does not come from family or friends, but rather from fellow entrepreneurs – especially the ones who practice: Tough Love!

Successful people are always learning, while poor people feel they have learned enough already.

Recommended Inspiration: The Richest Man in Town: The Twelve Commandments of Wealth

Final Thoughts on Life, Love, Everything!

# Remember it is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver

The capacity to recover and heal is natures greatest gift. I have not always made the best decisions with regards to my health and fitness (That breakthrough is a more recent event) but the amazing thing is that despite on occasion treating my body very badly it has always fought back and I have recovered – from deaths door on at least one occasion.

Now of course we should treat our bodies better, watch what we eat and exercise regularly. As Mahatma Gandhi said:

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”

# It is human nature to be kind, helpful and generous

OK, some will not agree – but it is my experience that it is human nature to be helpful and generous and that includes your customers and even your competitors.

It is amazing how helpful people will be if you give them a chance. Even unhappy customers whom you may have let down will help you and work with you if you give them a chance.

Always approach conflict positively and with a kind heart. It makes a difference.

# Successful entrepreneurs make every second count

Author Bio: Barry Dunlop is a lifelong entrepreneur, Mastermind Facilitator and sales coach who launched his first Internet Business in 1998. He also invests in renewable energy technology and Domain Names. You can follow / message Barry on LinkedIn or Twitter

The post 21 Ways Successful Entrepreneurs Think Differently appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Let me start by asking you a very important question – Are you creating the life of your dreams or are you just reacting to it?

This question gets to the heart of whether you are living by design – meaning you are the creator of your life. Or, whether you are living your life by default, just reacting to what life throws at you.

In this post we will review both options – which would you rather choose?

Living By Default – The Default Loop

The best way to explain what I mean by ‘default’ is to use a computer analogy. A default setting is a setting that’s been preset by the manufacturer. Unless we deliberately change the settings to customise them to our own preference, they will stay on default.

It’s easy to understand a default setting in computer terms but what about how it relates to your life? Whereas we consciously change settings on our computers or our mobile phones, in life we unconsciously choose a Default Setting; a setting that is made up of old beliefs, thoughts and feelings. As soon as life pushes a certain button we automatically return to these well-worn neural ‘default’ pathways, believing them to be the truth. But Default Settings are far from the truth.

As you grow in awareness you’ll begin to realise that your Default Settings are where you go when you are unconscious – when something scares you or triggers something and when you lose your present moment awareness.

Most people don’t realise how Default Settings affect their lives. We all know people who seem to experience the same set of challenges again and again. They experience the same negative life events over and over again and they don’t even recognise it’s a problem!

Over the last twenty years I’ve coached a lot of people and I see the same reasons why they are not achieving what they want from life over and over again. It doesn’t matter if I’m talking to a multi millionaire or school drop out. Everyone is challenged and talks about the same issues.

I call these issues Default Settings and there are primarily six of them. These Default Settings are what sit behind a life lived on autopilot and each one, when chosen takes us into an unconscious default loop.

If you’re fed up with the current set of life circumstances you find yourself in, I’ll bet some of my hard earned cash you’ve fallen foul to one, or more, of the Default Settings.

As you read on, ask yourself, which one(s) are my Default Settings?

The Six Default Settings are: Approval, Blame, Conformity, Doubts and Fears, Excuses and Focus Splatter

These six Default Settings’ are the biggest blocks we have to getting what we want out of life. Each one is a story we can hide behind and one we can use to save face when we explain to others our lack of results.

Lets explore each Default Setting in more detail to gain a better understanding of each one:

Default Setting #1 – Approval

The Approval Default Setting causes us to go against what we truly believe in. The excessive need for approval leads us to make decisions to please the people whose approval we seek at the cost of what’s “right” for us. This Default Setting believes that others are responsible for our worth. If they like us, we’re okay, and if they don’t like us, we are not!

People who struggle with this issue usually wait for approval of others for recognition of their achievements, run a mile in the face of conflict, are over-agreeable in their relationships, say yes to more things than they should, live their lives according to expectations of them, often have a hard time solving problems or making decisions on their own, don’t speak up and often rely on others for their happiness.

If you are waiting for approval from others for you to live the life you love, then you’re living by default!

Default Setting #2 – Blame

The Blame Default Setting makes us a victim in life. Instead of taking responsibility for what happens to us we blame the outside world. “It’s not our fault,” we say, “It’s (fill in the blank!)”. This Default Setting is about taking the easy way out and blaming anything for a life that’s below where it should be.

Playing the blame game is closely linked with the need for drama. You know, phrases such as, “You’ll never believe what’s just happened to me!” or “Can you believe what he/she did to me!” Some people create drama in their own life, while others get caught up in the drama of friends and family, or the world in general.

If you’re default is to point the finger, constantly complain or attract drama into you life, then you’re living by default!

Default Setting #3 – Conformity

The Conformity Default Setting has us unconsciously chasing other people’s or society’s definitions of success. This Default Setting has us spend our waking hours working hard to fit into cookie cutter patterns of success dished up by the media. They do a great job of telling us what success is and what it is not! So we constantly spend our time and money rearranging our external world in an attempt to get the “perfect” picture. Then, and only then, we will be happy!

What’s your definition of success? If you can’t answer this clearly, you’re living by default!

Default Setting #4 – Doubts and Fears

The Doubt and Fear Default Setting causes us to play the safe game. Here’s a truism – any action that’s worthwhile and causes you to grow will likely scare you to death! There is probably not a day that goes by where you don’t wish for a better life for yourself. But then you drop into the default loop, doubt your ability and get stuck. Fear and doubt want us the play small, to shrink, to run away instead of following our heart.

There are a hundred and one fears. Do you recognise any of these? Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, fear loosing something (like your money or your job), fear of looking like an idiot., fear of death.

If you are allowing fear or doubt to hold you back, you’re living by default!

Default Setting #5 – Excuses

This Excuses Default Setting shows up in the form of excuses and justifications. Excuses are nothing more than avoidance tactics, a coping strategy we use to explain away our lack of results and inability to overcome fear.

There is always a reason someone didn’t get the promotion, or why they can’t get to the gym, lose the weight or have enough money. The list goes on! Excuses make us delusional. We believe we would be able to get the result we want “if only….” If only this, that or the other happened.

If you are letting excuses stop you from taking action, you’re living by default!

Default Setting #6 – Focus Splatter

The Focus Splatter Default Setting unconsciously pulls us to dabble in lots of things but never really commit to anything. It’s when we mindlessly and half-heartedly splatter our focus on non-result producing activities, so we never fully engage in life. Focus splatter is like the magpie, always looking out for bright shiny objects to bring back to its nest. Each bright shiny object that comes our way gets our focus just until the next one comes along. There are many ‘focus splatter’ culprits. Here are some you may recognise – Facebook, Youtube, Google, TV, latest fads, new business ideas, email, and clutter.

If you’re focus is spent too much on non-result activities, you’re living by default!

The Past Becomes The Future

Please make no mistake, these Default Settings come with a heavy price. Each one of these six Default Settings will make you feel better in the short term. But the lack of conscious and deliberate action towards the life you want will create an inner void of regret as you watch your life slip through your fingers.

These Default Settings strip us of any notion of personal responsibility, they dilute our life force energy; we start to believe that we have no control over anything, that it’s all about what happens out there and since out there is out of our control, our life becomes an emotional roller coaster ride with more lows than highs!

We keep repeating the same patterns, knowing we want something better but unable to do anything about it. It’s not long-before it leads us on the dangerous road to boredom, apathy, and despair and, at its worst, depression.

The Power Of Choice

But, and it’s a big but, today and everyday you have a choice. That’s the choice to live your life by default or to live your life by design. Sure, external circumstances might have dealt you a bad hand but you have the choice of whether you succumb to the default loop or rise above it into the design loop.

Living Life By Design – The Design Loop

When you choose to live by design you focus on what you desire or want. Which then brings about the life you choose to live – the Life of Your Dreams! And, like everything else in life, this is something that most of us are going to have to learn to do.

If your fed up with living a life that feels out of control and you are ready to make conscious decisions about the type of future you would like to create, here is a step-by-step process that allows you to meet all your responsibilities whilst you creating the life you love.

It’s the same process I use with my personal coaching clients to support them in making changes toward living a high quality life.

You can use it to improve every area of your life – whether that’s obtaining more money, love, health, and a successful business.

Create The Life Of Your Dreams In 6 Easy Steps

Step #1. Clarity:

Living a life by design starts with knowing what that is. Everything flows from the vision of your right and ideal private and professional life. Knowing what kind of life you want to create gives you unstoppable power. Clarity is key in the quest for life of your dreams.

Step #2. Eliminate:

Once you have a clear vision, you need to eliminate anything that is not in alignment with it. That means clearing out junk, clutter and energy drains to free up room and let your new vision in. This important step is often missed out in many “quick fix” books and training programmes. It’s very hard to stay focused on creating a new vision when your life is set up in a reactive way.

Step #3. Intention:

What you intend is what your life becomes because thoughts become things. Your intention is a specific statement of clarity containing what you want, why you want it, and when you want it by.

Step #4. Attention:

The habit of attention is a daily practice. This step is your most powerful creative tool in your tool kit. Remember, where focus goes energy flows. Therefore, it is important to build daily rituals, practices and habits into your life since these will help you to stay focus only on what you want – your intention.

Step #5. Action:

This step is not just about taking any kind of action – it’s about taking conscious action (not default actions). Taking action is about moving forward with your intentions – taking actions not reactions. Reaction is NOT action!

Step #6. Release:

Lastly it’s about letting go of your expectations of ‘how’ your intention and vision will manifest by ‘unsetting’ your head. This allows your heart to stay open and see the opportunities in everything you create in your life.

These are the six steps of deep blasting transformation – to creating the life of your dreams. Real success comes from the setting of new habits, disciplines and rituals – it’s the opposite of the “quick fix” which leaves so many people frustrated, disillusioned and cynical.

Below is a short case study of Steve and Lynda showing how they put each step into practice to achieve one of their big life goals. I’ve bracketed each of the six steps to make it easier to spot.

Steve & Lynda’s Story:

Two years ago Steve and Lynda sat down to seriously re-think their lives. A couple in their fifties, they sensed it was time to move to a new chapter in their life. Lynda wanted to bail out of her corporate PR job and make a living out of her passion for floristry. Steve wanted to spend more time on his beloved yacht, moored in the stunning Bala Lake in North Wales, whilst maintaining his business interests.

They started by creating a vision board, which contained images and sentences describing the life they aimed to create in the next three years (clarity). After careful consideration, they decided to scale back their lifestyle, sell their family home in North London and purchase a smaller two bedroom house close to Bala Lake in Gwynedd, Wales

This intended move required them to simplify their life and de-clutter (eliminate) a lot of ‘stuff’ they had collected over the years. Sorting everything out to fit the space they were planning to move into felt to Lynda both overwhelming and liberating. She couldn’t believe how much ‘stuff’ they owned!

Lynda and Steve set a specific goal (intention) to simply their life, find a property and move to Wales within the year. They were very clear on the type of home they wanted, including its appearance, the number of rooms and the size of the land surrounding the house. One of the requirements was for Lynda to have a little studio on the premises.

Due to the tough economic climate, selling the house in North London took a lot longer than expected and ultimately the sale price was not as much as Lynda and Steve would have liked. This was a disappointment and the couple had to find a way to make their new budget work. But, throughout all this time, they never lost sight of what they wanted to create for themselves (attention).

After a few months and lots of travelling back and forth from Wales looking at many different properties (action), they made an offer on a house. It was half a mile from the lake and met all the criteria they had set for their perfect home. No sooner had they popped the Champagne bottle open in celebration, than the real estate agent called to say the seller had accepted another offer. Another huge disappointment.

After discussing the loss of their dream home, they decided to let go, relax and trust that the right home was out there and would come to them (release). A week later their real estate agent called again. Another home had just become available. It was so new that the agent didn’t have any details; however Lynda and Steve decided to look at it the next day. The house was not only perfect, it was at walking distance from the lake and had an outbuilding that could be converted into a studio for Lynda. They made an offer there and then and it was accepted.

Twenty months after creating their vision board, Lynda and Steve moved to Wales to start their new life.

The moral of this story is that you can create a life by design and live the life you love – just follow these the six steps.

I’m not suggesting it’s easy, but it’s very rewarding, and that is the goal and that’s why I’ve written this blog post. I believe you deserve it. The bigger and more important question is, do you?

Are you ready to live the Life of Your Dreams?

If you are one of those individuals who are fed up with suffering today, struggling today, tackling challenge after challenge and feeling a victim of everything… then do yourself a favour, hit your reset button and start living your life by design.

About Colin Hiles:
Colin Hiles has more than 25 years as a performance coach and has helped CEO’s, sports stars, actors, and thousands of others take their personal and professional life to a whole new level.

http://colinhiles.com

Bonus Mindset Video – How To Train Your Mind To Stay Positive

Stop Living Life By Default – Start Living The Life of Your Dreams

The post How To Create The Life of Your Dreams appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Back in November we had the world’s best email marketer speak at our Info Workshop seminar.

His name is Tyler “Moneyfingers” Bramlett, and boy-oh-boy, did he ever deliver the politically incorrect TRUTH.

Here’s the biggest lesson he shared:

“People Drastically Over-Estimate What They Can Do In One Year Online AND Drastically Under-Estimate What They Can Do In 5 Years!”

Some background…

Tyler joined our Mastermind group three years ago.

In his words, he knew nothing about marketing, but he followed our advice, took massive action, made a lot of mistakes, and discovered one fundamental truth about success online…

…You must learn to create a captivating hook and irresistible offer if you want to be successful at selling.

“If you master the ability to create a captivating hook and irresistible offer,” Tyler said, “Then you will make a LOT of money.”

Tyler’s Rules for a Captivating Hook…

#1 – It Must Be SEXY

#2 – It Must Provoke MASSIVE Curiosity

It must have a strong promise, a quick-&-easy easy solution, and a unique angle.

#3 – It Must Be Congruent With The Bait

Outrageous Example:

This Sentence Provokes Curiosity, Fixes The Target Paid (Women over 40), Quickly and Easily and Puts Product in a Category of One

Use This 7 Question Formula To Determine If Your Hook Is Viable…

1. Who Is Your Target Demographic And What Pain Do They Have??
2. In One Sentence What Is The Big Promise Of Your Offer??
3. Does This Sentence Provoke Curiosity For Your Demographic??
4. Does This Sentence Fix Their Pain??
5. Does This Sentence Fix Their Pain Quickly?
6. Does This Sentence Fix Their Pain Easily?
7. Have You Ever Seen Anyone Else Use This Same Sentence?

Tyler’s Rules for Your Offer

#1 – Your Offer Must Be an Extension of the Hook

#2 – Your Offer Must Appeal to Emotion

Rather Than Focusing On What Your Product Includes, Focus On…

-> What It Will Do For Them
-> Why It Will Work When Everything Else Has Failed
-> Why They Shouldn’t Blame Themselves (They Never Knew This Info)

#3 – Your Offer Must Be Unique

Use This 7 Question Formula To Determine If Your Offer Is Irresistible

1. How Can You Present Your Core Offer An Extension Of Your Hook??
2. How Can You Make It Seem As Though It Wasn’t Your Idea To Create The Offer But Rather Your Duty?
3. How Can You Position The Value To Be 20Xs + More Than Your Price?
4. How Can You Do The “Ron Popeil Price Drop” In Such A Way That “Outside Circumstances” Are Allowing You To Further Discount The Price?
5. How Can You Add Value By Offering “3X Bonuses” That Help People Get Results Faster Or Easier?
6. How Can You Make Your Guarantee Unique And Personal?
7. How Can You Convince Your Customer That You Are THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD With This Solution?

That’s 7-Figure Stuff right there. Thanks Tyler!

At our event, Tyler showed the audience how in the past 6 weeks he had made over $423,731. But Tyler didn’t succeed overnight. He struggled for his first year, just like I did, and just like Bedros Keuilian did. The key to success is…

…fighting through the initial struggles knowing that in 3-5 years from now you will add a ZERO to your revenues.

“The reality is most people underestimate the amount of work they need to do in their first year,” Bedros said in a big sermon to the group, “But those same people set 5-year goals too low. But work and experience operate like compounding interest.”

Real Success Online

“You make the least amount of interest back in the first year when you put money into an investment fund, but if you keep putting the same amount of money in each year and keep that interest rolling back in year after year, the power of compounding interest grows your wealth exponentially faster in year four, five and six.”

“The same principle applies to the knowledge you build in business. When you work your tail off the first year, you’ll find that future business ventures bring faster and easier success than with your first.”

“That’s the learning curve… or what I call the compounding knowledge effect. The harder you work in your first year in business, the faster and easier success comes in the future years. Don’t underestimate where you can be in a few years if you keep working hard and following your mentor’s advice today.”

Bedros is right.

Empires are built on strong foundations.

To build a strong foundation, you have to do the work.

Don’t let a few initial struggles derail you from your big goals and dreams. Just realize that the initial inertia takes a little extra effort to get over, but when you do, you’ll build momentum, and things get easier, and success comes faster.

Right now seems like a good place to “tell you to imagine where you could be in a few years”, but as Bedros and Tyler said, you’d underestimate it. You’d sell yourself short.

So just do this. Commit to doing the work and experience real Success Online.

Make the New Year a year of study, action, commitment, and a “Never Give Up” attitude.

Put in the place a strong foundation, make the investment in your future, and realize that the payoff is right around the corner.

We believe in you.

Craig Ballantyne

=>> Looking For Success Online? << =

Seek Out and Join a Mastermind Today!

Surround yourself with people you want to be like.

Remember – You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

To Your Online Success Online.

Special Notice:

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7 secrets to online success that will allow you to achieve those BIG goals!

For Online Success…

You must start your day with positive rituals that get you focused.

Do the BIG things first.

Eliminate temptations so that you remain focused.

Own your day and control your future.

#1 Know Your Vision

You must know what you really want and that’s having your vision.

The vision is for your business and your family life. Know what you want out of life.

It’s interesting when people are beginners, they’ll say a sales goal but don’t really know how to get there. It’s one thing for you to say, “I want to have a thousand sales of my product” but if you don’t have a blueprint for it, you won’t get there. You need a complete vision like, “Here’s how I can actually achieve 50 sales from 20 people or 500 sales from 2 people.”

So think about it…

Three years from now, where do you want your online business to be?

Where do you want your family to be? What kind of relationships do you want to have or need to repair? What kind of workday do you want to have? Once you know what you want to build, then you can determine the tools and avenues to take to get there. That’s the most important part of the equation.

#2 Know Your Marketplace

The second thing you need to know is your marketplace. You have to know your marketplace inside and out. You have to know what they want. You can’t take a square peg and try to put it into a round hole. You can’t force your product idea on the marketplace. You have to know what they want.

This is why I tell my coaching clients to write their sales copy first before creating their product because they’ll have a good idea if they can sell it or not. It’s much easier to put a couple of hours into thinking about your sales message than it is to putting a couple of months into creating a product that nobody wants.

What you think the world needs is probably not what they want. Don’t make that mistake. I’ve seen it made too many times. Even Amazon writes before creating. Amazon writes press releases for all their products before any are created, before any specs are even written up because they know they have to be able to sell it and hype it up before anybody is going to be interested in it in the first place. That’s very important.

Getting to know your marketplace is as simple as subscribing to magazines. For example, if your product deals with women and nutrition, subscribe to Women’s World magazine. It shows up every week. Get a subscription to Oxygen. It shows up every month. These are golden for getting to know women and nutrition.

#3 For Online Success – Know Where Your Customers Are

You also need to know where your customers are, who’s got them and how you can get them. That’s the most important aspect of what you need to know about your customers. That might mean advertising to somebody else’s Facebook fan page or getting somebody else to be an affiliate for you.

Dan Kennedy had a good quote that said, “People’s problems are their hobbies.” Make Sense? If you buy one diet book, you’re going to buy ten diet books. Many people often don’t have success because they keep buying different books and they’ve turned their problem into a hobby.

Now you want to come along, solve their problem and be the last person they ever need to go to for information. But, it’s very important for you to understand that other people have your customers.

#4 For Online Success – Know Yourself

You also need to know yourself, your skills, your strengths, your weaknesses. That will help you determine what you should be doing and what you shouldn’t be doing. If you’re not very good on video, you should not be trying to be the next Mike Chang. There’s just no point. If you’re not the type of person who can sit down for 30 minutes, you’re not going to be the type of person who’s going to build a website around SEO. You need to know what you’re good at and get other people to do the stuff you’re not good at.

So you really need to have some introspection. Think about yourself, your skills, and your experiences. Be honest with yourself. Then you can cross off the things you’re not going to do. You don’t have to do as much as you think to be successful.

If you’re a great networker, a great schmoozer, by all means get out to as many events as possible. You’ve got an unfair advantage over the people that are not because that way, you don’t even have to be a great copywriter, you don’t have to be great at YouTube videos. If you know a lot of people and you’re a go-giver, people are going to want to help you. They really will. It’s so much easier for someone to want to help somebody when they’ve met them in person.

#5 Know Your Allies

The next thing you need to know are your allies. Those are your web people, your team and affiliates. You have to know who will help you build success.

#6 Know Your Plan

You need to know your plan and you need to take action to implement it. With the right tools and the right mindset you will find success. Sometimes it’s hard, but it can be simple with a plan. You just have to put your head down and grind, that’s what it’s all about.

You also need to listen to those who have “been there, done that”. Don’t reinvent the wheel. One of the most important messages that I tell to anybody that buys fat loss product from me is just follow the instructions. Don’t over think it. Get the rituals in place. Get the good habits in place. Eliminate the bad ones. Eliminate the temptations from your life. It’s the same for you. To succeed, it’s often the eliminations of the bad things more than it is the implementations of the good things.

Eliminate the time-wasters in your life, the negative people. If you eliminate those two things, I bet you you’ll double your business by this time next year, if not sooner. Get rid of the bad then work on the good. Sometimes, that’s more important.

#7 Know Your End Point

The seventh and final thing you need to know is your endpoint. What is your end game for all of this? This is part of your vision. Know what you’re willing to do and what you’re not willing to do. Know your vision, your endgame. Know the level of success you want, and the lifestyle you want. When you know you’re endgame and use all these steps you will reach success and happiness. So many of you in our mastermind group are living proof of this.

That’s it guys. Those are the seven things you need to know: Vision, What you want, Your marketplace, Your customers, Yourself (that’s really important), Your allies, Your plan and Your endpoint. If you know those things, you’re going to succeed – you will have ONLINE SUCCESS!

For more on The 7 Things You Must Know for Success visit our Facebook Page

To Your Online Success,

Craig Ballantyne

“Change is a matter of choice. Not Calendar.” – Dan Kennedy

If you stumbled yesterday, get back on track today. With each daily WIN you will build momentum, harness the power of success, and develop more resources to help you overcome the obstacles in your life, so that you will succeed. I believe in you. I know you can – and WILL – do it. Start with little bets, small steps, and mini-victories today and turn that into bigger momentum for tomorrow!

Craig Ballantyne is founder of Turbulencetraining.com and Editor at Early to Rise

Online Success Mastermind Group

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The post 7 Secrets To Achieving Mega Online Success appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Hi, I’m Maxine,

Have you ever wondered why you’re not reaching your next level in business and life?

Today, I’m going to share with you some of the main reasons why most people never achieve success.

You see, there are so many things that hinder us from achieving our goals.

We all cling on to bad habits, destructive behavior and limiting beliefs.  

The difference between stagnation and growth are often subtle shifts.

15 things to give up for more success

1. Give Up Your Mask

In order to avoid getting hurt and rejected, we hide who we really are behind a mask of who we think we should be.

Have the courage to be you, to show your true emotions and stand behind them – even at the risk of disapproval.

Embrace not only the “good” side of you, but also the vulnerable side. Because vulnerability is authentic and real.

It’s the source of creativity and innovation. It creates opportunity.

“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”  ~Brené Brown,

2. Give Up Your Belief In The Future

Yes, your future holds your hopes, your dreams and desires – but your future depends on the choices you make today.

Believe in the present.  You only ever have this moment – because the past moments are gone and the future will eventually show up as another moment of now.

Success starts at this very moment, with the choices you make right now. Practice presence.

Notice what’s around you, what you see, hear, taste and smell. Notice what you experience and interact with it.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”

~Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

3. Give Up Your SOS  (Shiny Object Syndrome)

Whether it’s chasing that next “shiny” idea or the secret shortcuts to success – we are all guilty of this addiction.

The pursuit of everything that seems appealing is seductive. It makes us get side-tracked, loose focus and go in a million different directions. 

Take time to identify the ideas and activities worth pursuing and then stick to them on a consistent basis.

“If you want to draw water you do not dig six one-foot wells. You dig one six-foot well.” ~Buddha

4. Give Up Your Need Of Approval from others

You sabotage your success if you make choices that aim to avoid disapproval. Your ego’s seeking of recognition is never ending and makes you miss potentially rewarding opportunities because of your fear of being criticized.

Choose wisely between what’s good for the ego and what’s good for your success.

“A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of sheep.” ~Vernon Howard

5. Give Up Taking “No” As An Answer!

Interpret feedback the way you choose to: A “no” doesn’t mean “no” – it just means “not right now” or “not this way”.

Whatever it is that you want to achieve, don’t take rejection as a final answer.

Take it as a useful feedback that says, “Keep going”.

6. Give Up Distinguishing Between Your Private And Work Life

All aspects of your life are interconnected. You are fooling yourself by believing your private life doesn’t impact your entrepreneurial success.  

You are hindering your growth if some areas of your life are a mess. True success encompasses all areas.

Bring passion, perseverance and joy to all of the roles you play: as an entrepreneur, a lover or a friend… Make all aspects of your life successful and be proactive.

7. Give Up Your Reluctance To Ask For Help

Be man enough to admit you don’t know everything. Don’t take asking for help as a sign of weakness.

Instead, embrace it as an act of strength: it indicates honesty, intelligence and your rise above the ego that wants to do it all alone. Remember:

“The strong individual is the one who asks for help when he needs it.”  ~Rona Barrett

8. Give Up Fixing Your Weaknesses

We live in a society that emphasize the need to be well-rounded. Successful people hardly ever tick that box – instead they know, embrace and manage around their weaknesses.

Fixing weaknesses is just another strategy to play safe – playing not to lose instead of playing to win.

Change your focus from fixing weaknesses to capitalizing on your strengths – because you will grow the most in your areas of talents.

“Emphasize strengths, don’t fix weaknesses.” ~Timothy Ferriss

9. Give Up Trying To Be Perfect

Perfectionism is based on the false belief that if we do things perfectly, we can avoid failure.

It’s an unhealthy quest to make your work flawless in order to earn approval and acceptance from others.

Recognize the distinct difference between giving your best and trying to be perfect. Ask yourself if spending the extra time will make an equivalent difference to your success in the long run.

Always favor progress over perfection.

“Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough – that we should try again.” ~Julia Cameron

10. Give Up Playing Small

We are all afraid of failure, so we play small.

Playing a bigger game means following your own path. Listening to your intuition, doing what feels right compared to doing what everybody else tells you to do.

By playing small, you are not serving yourself nor anyone else. Instead play big, go out of your comfort zone. 

Be prepared to be wrong and fail. Be prepared to feel fear.

“If you’re are paralyzed with fear it’s a good sign. It shows you do what you have to do.” ~Steven Pressfield

11. Give Up Your Dependency On Willpower

Regardless of willpower being limited or not – tasks done on autopilot require less thought, decision-making and energy.

To be successful, you have to act successful. Align your actions with your goals.  

Create routines that automate taking the right actions. Be intentional about setting work, health, fitness and relationship habits. 

Automate your behavior, one habit at a time.

12. Give Up Your Resistance To What Is

The present moment is out of your circle of influence. You can’t change what is happening right now.

Instead of wasting your energy complaining, being upset, annoyed or disappointed, learn to fully accept the present moment and your current thoughts and emotions.

What is more insane than resisting something that can’t be changed? Acceptance doesn’t not mean approval. It doesn’t mean you can’t take action to change an undesirable situation.

Instead, it means saying “yes” to life as it presents itself and then moving forward. Let go of your resistance. Say “yes” to how you feel, “yes” to what is happening right now. When you do, life will get a hell of a lot easier and will work for you, not against you.

“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” ~Eckhart Tolle

13. Give up Trying to Be too Clever

Be different and innovate, but not for the sake of being different, but out of a quest to make things better.  Overcome your reluctance to make use of proven methods and good advice.

Don’t try to be clever in order to earn other people’s approval and enhance your self-worth. Act out of a desire for improvement and service and you will end up being clever in the process.

14. Give Up Waiting For Luck

Luck builds its foundation on preparation. To be successful, you don’t just have to be lucky to come across good opportunities, but you have to be ready and prepared to make use of them.

Be the right person in the right place at the right time through preparation. Lucky people act in a way that increases their change of good opportunities.

Be open-minded and optimistic. Prepare for your luck then go out and find it.

“Opportunity is where you find it ….not where it finds you ” ~Old Proverb

15. Give Up Other People’s Versions Of Success

Being successful and feeling successful are quite different things. Reaching other people’s version of success does not come with the joy and happiness that you were hoping for.

Success is a word that means many different things. Chasing other people’s dreams means betraying your own ones.

Define your version of success and give up all the others.

“There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way” ~Christopher Morley

This is a guest post by Maxine, a mindset & talent blogger. You can follow her on her Facebook Page.

Bonus from IncomeDiary Editor

16. Stop associating with Toxic People!

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

~ Jim Rohn

Spend time with people who are more successful than you and you will become more successful.

Spend time with less successful people – in particular with negative and toxic people – and you will become like them!

Take a look around you – are there any people you could do with avoiding, spending less time with?

Surround yourself with positive people. Get rid of the toxic ones in your life. You become whom you associate with.

Success is all about having the right mindset – 50 of the most powerful perspectives on success from some of history’s most successful people. Their definitions, quotations, formulas, misconceptions, and principles paint a clear picture of the mindset of a success.

The post 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Successful appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

They range from motivational to humorous — covering everything from social media to monetization. Mostly they seek to define what blogging is, what makes it so important, and how to blog well.

Prepare to be inspired and informed.

Post Image Courtesy of Anonymous Collective

Top 40 Blogging Quotes

#1 Brian Clark

As a blogger, everything that you do flows from understanding your audience and seeking to help them as much as possible.

#2 Mike Butcher

“Blogging is a conversation, not a code.”

#3 Scott Adams

Scott Adams gets to speak his mind every day with his syndicated comic strip, Dilbert. But he also loves the free, often goal-less nature of his regular blog. He has said about blogging,  “All you get is the pleasure of a completed task.”

#4 Lee Odden

“A blog is only as interesting as the interest shown in others.”

#5 Simon Dumenco

“Blogging is just writing — writing using a particularly efficient type of publishing technology.”

#6 Andrew Sullivan

For most of human history, all published writing had been carefully inspected, edited, and approved.

In the last decade, blogging has turned the publishing world on its head. A blog allows you to write and publish anything, from anywhere, and have it be immediately available to billions of people all around the world.

This means that blogging is uniquely “alive”, as Andrew Sullivan points out in The Atlantic. I, for one, am happy to embrace the chaos and vitality.

#7 Tom Foremski

“Blogging is a communications mechanism handed to us by the long tail of the Internet.”

#8 Michael Conniff

“Blogs are whatever we make them. Defining ‘Blog’ is a fool’s errand.”

#9 Ron Dawson

“The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful.”

#10 Neil Patel

“Don’t try to plan everything out to the very last detail. I’m a big believer in just getting it out there: create a minimal viable product or website, launch it, and get feedback.”

#11 Daniel B. Beaulieu

“The casual conversational tone of a blog is what makes it particularly dangerous”

#12 Seth Godin

When you write remarkable content, you stay engaged and excited with your blog. Your readers follow suit.

Godin’s blog is a great example of remarkable content: it’s reliably snappy and insightful. Learn more Seth with our in-depth blogger profile.

#13 Jerry Schoemaker

“I think I am about 5 for 500 when it comes to successful ideas vs flops.”

#14 George Siemens

“Where the Internet is about availability of information, blogging is about making information creation available to anyone.”

#15 Joshua Micah Marshall

“I think of us as journalists; the medium we work in is blogging.”

#16 David Sinick

Sinick knows every SEO “trick” in the book and he still recognizes that the easiest way to rank well for competitive search terms is simply to create high-quality content.

#17 Google’s SEO Starter Guide

“Your ultimate consumers are your users, not search engines.”

#18 Sufia Tippu

“Blogging is hard because of the grind required to stay interesting and relevant.”

#19 Neil Patel

“If you want to continually grow your blog, you need to learn to blog on a consistent basis.”

#20 Yaro Starak

“You can work quite hard, in particular online, and do quite well independently, but if you really want to grow you need points of leverage and most of them come from knowing people.”

#21 Seth Godin

“If you love writing or making music or blogging or any sort of performing art, then do it. Do it with everything you’ve got. Just don’t plan on using it as a shortcut to making a living.”

#22 Pat Flynn

Pat Flynn makes over $40,000 per month online with his various websites, but he doesn’t make a dime off of social media – at least not directly.

When we interviewed Pat for Web Domination, he told us emphatically that social media is a terrible sales tool. Instead, Flynn sees social media as, “something that allows [him] to connect with [his] audience more.”

#23 Gary Vaynerchuk

When blogging first became popular, many thought that it was just a passing trend. But it has stuck around – and more than that, only strengthened over time.

Social media is around for the long haul because we value our relationships with one another above just about everything else.  A blog entry isn’t just a block of text, but a slice of humanity and an opportunity to begin a real conversation.

#24 David Aston

First-time bloggers often chase the big spikes in traffic that come with a viral post or a big media mention. Then lightning finally strikes… and they come to realize that those surges in traffic are made up mostly of people who aren’t very engaged and who don’t stick around for very long.

Instead, follow David’s advice and focus on building a loyal following of regular readers. That’s the strategy that David has used to make WhyAmIUnhealthy hugely popular in just over a year.

#25 Matt Wolfe

Matt’s right:  the Internet is absolutely bursting at the seams with valuable information, all available for free. Yet he and other bloggers like him are able to make six-figure incomes by creating information so specialized and valuable that people are more than willing to pony up the dough.

The bulk of Wolfe’s income comes from his membership site, The WordPress Classroom.

#26 Gary Vaynerchuk

“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.”

#27 Luke Langford

“The term ‘Professional Blogger’ is no longer an oxymoron.”

#28 John Chow

“Making money from blogging requires you to do only two things: drive a lot traffic, then maximize the income from that traffic.”

#29 Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse practices what he preaches by earning revenue through Digital Photography School, FeelGooder, TwiTip, and Problogger.

#30 Jason Calacanis

Most people think that the ‘currency’ of blogging is actual currency (money). They think, “I’ll give my readers authentic, valuable blog posts and they’ll give me money in return.”

Blogger Jason Calacanis has the real exchange:  you write authentic, valuable blog posts and you’re readers give you back trust. Once you have an audience that trusts you, all sorts of things are possible (including making money).

#31 David Risley

According to Risley, the key to a six-figure income as a blogger is “a blog with a business backend.”

#32 Steve Pavlina

Never try to trick somebody into giving you their money. Even if it works, it’s a short-term way to make money online.

#34 Adrienne Smith

“Successful people don’t spam.”

#35 Penelope Trunk

Increasingly, employers are interested in hiring people who’ve cultivated an influential online presence. So sometimes the best resume is a blog.

A well-maintained blog establishes your authority in a niche by showcasing your knowledge and dedication to the topic.

#36 Dick Costolo

Of course, just because you can write anything you want while blogging, that doesn’t mean that you should…

#37 Liz Strauss

Blogger Liz Strauss explained in an interview why it’s so important to be conscientious about everything that you publish online:  “Your children, your grandchildren, your future spouse, your future boss, and your future enemy will see what you write eventually. Speak the truth with your head connected to your heart.”

Write with integrity and you never have to worry about your words coming back to haunt you.

#38 David Risley

“There are no lines in the sand in the blogosphere except for those who draw those lines in an effort to get attention.”

#39 Chris Brogan

“If you accept all the praise, you have to accept all the critics.”

#40 Brian Clark

From our perspective today, it may seem that the Internet is already so far advanced that it’s too late to make any significant traction.

The opposite is actually true:  the Internet is still relatively new and it’s expanding in popularity and scope each year. Looking back in twenty years, we will be able to see that the opportunities to benefit from social media (blogging included) “have only just begun.

Which Blogging Quote is Your Favorite?

Let me know with a comment. If you’ve got a great blogging quote that I missed, tell me about it and I may add it.

The post Top 40 Blogging Quotes appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

You’ve read a million times what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur:  intelligence, vision, drive, perseverance, and a strong work ethic.

But while these are most often repeated entrepreneurial traits, they aren’t the only ones. Through my research I’ve come to find that there are other more surprising characteristics that most all entrepreneurs share.

Over the course of the last year, I’ve profiled ten of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time – visionaries like Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs. I’ve also edited Income Diary’s book of interviews with 20 of today’s most successful online entrepreneurs.

I’ve noticed some striking patterns in their habits and characteristics that you may not guess. Keep reading if you want to discover these traits and cultivate them in yourself.

#1 Entrepreneurs are Down to Earth

What happens when someone wins the lottery? Usually, they gain a sports car, a yacht, and a few diamond rings… and completely lose their grip on reality. Sudden wealth has a way of putting people out of touch with what really matters.

Successful entrepreneurs are often the benefactors of sudden wealth, yet they’re much better at keeping their perspective. They tend to stay down-to-earth even after their bank account goes sky-high.

Take for example two of the world’s youngest billionaires, Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook. Zuckerberg bought his first home last year for just $7 million dollars. Moskovitz still rides his bicycle to work.

Why are entrepreneurs so down to earth? Maybe it’s because most of them learned to live on practically nothing while they worked night and day to turn their first profit.

#2 Entrepreneurs are Naïve

Some people think that naivety is just another word for ignorance. Actually, it means a lack of experience, judgment, and worldliness. Naivety can lead us astray – into believing fairy tales are true and that we’ll be able to fly if we just jump off the roof and flap our arms – but it’s also a source of wonder and optimism.

This is why naivety is so important for entrepreneurs. Wonder is required to come up with a brilliant new idea. Optimism is required to believe you’ll actually be able to bring it into reality.

The entrepreneurs we interviewed for Web 20 all admitted to being a little bit naïve when they first started. They founded their businesses without realistic expectations – and most of those businesses failed as a result. One still has a box of custom t-shirts collecting dust in his attic.

But if they hadn’t been so naïve – had they known the complexities, the challenges, and the obstacles when they first came up with their idea – then they never would have started down the entrepreneurial journey at all.

#3 Entrepreneurs are Lucky

When I researched the life of Bill Gates, I was a struck by how lucky he was as a kid. In 1968, Gates’ middle school invested $3,000 in a state of the art computer. At that time, most universities didn’t even have a computer available to students. The chance of getting to learn how to program as 13-year-old in 1968 was about one-in-a-million.

The truth is that everyone who’s successful has gotten lucky at some point along the way. But while there’s such a thing as dumb luck, most of the time people make their own luck. By consistently putting themselves in the right situations, successful entrepreneurs make themselves luckier than the average person.

#4 Entrepreneurs are Masters of Nothing

With a fully grown business, there are several employees and each one plays a different role. With a startup there are just as many roles to fill, but usually only one or two people to fill them.

This means that most entrepreneurs need to have a diverse skillset just to bring their vision into reality. They can’t merely be good managers; they must also be good marketers, salespeople, and copywriters. It helps if they’re good programmers, graphic designers, and web developers too.

But when you’re good at so many things, it’s very difficult to be great at any of them. To master a skill requires that you invest hours into its practice daily. For this reason, most entrepreneurs are “jacks of all trades, masters of none.”

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As your business grows, you can begin to hire masters of their trade to fill certain roles. In the meantime, you’ll have an easier time getting off the ground if you a have a well-rounded skillset.

#5 Entrepreneur are Compassionate

Fair or not, there’s a stereotype that businesspeople are heartless. It’s easy to imagine a fat-cat CEO, sitting at his desk with a cigar in his mouth, and greedily cutting costs to boost profits.

But there’s a reason the same stereotype doesn’t exist for entrepreneurs. In order to found a business and help it grow, you truly need to care about more than profits. Successful entrepreneurs genuinely care about their products, their employees, and their customers.

One great example of compassionate entrepreneur is Richard Branson. He’s been known to write his employees personal letters to let them know he cares. Branson’s big heart has also spurred him to join the fight against on AIDS, nuclear weapons, and climate change – pledging billions of his own wealth.

#6 Entrepreneurs are Different

When Steve Jobs took over as CEO of Apple in 1997, he commissioned a new slogan for the company: “Think Different.”

This attitude inspired the colorful, pod-shaped iMac — a very different product that signaled Apple’s resurgence and cleared the path for future innovations such as the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

But for Jobs, being different had been a way of life long before it was Apple’s slogan. While other little boys were playing baseball in the backyard, young Steve was in the garage tinkering with the circuit boards of old radios and televisions. While other young adults were in college, he was traveling to India and living on an apple orchard.

So Jobs was different, but compared to some other famous entrepreneurs his eccentricities are tame. Think of the reclusive habits of business magnate Howard Hughes or Mark Zuckerberg’s commitment to only eating meat from animals that he personally killed.

Entrepreneurs are people who embrace their differentness, accentuate it and explore it. In a 1994 interview with PBS, Steve Jobs explained why a willingness to think and be different is so important:

What do you think is the most important trait in an entrepreneur? Are there any important ones that I missed? Let me know in the comment section below.

The post 6 Traits All Entrepreneurs Secretly have in Common appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

One of the greatest challenges most of these solo-preneurs face is the “solo” portion of it, which is largely the result of the fact that they often lack entrepreneurial or “big business” education which teaches leverage.

You know the picture… you strike out on your own, and quickly realize you are wearing so many hats in your own business and get stressed out…

Or you have so many great ideas for businesses, sites, products… but so little time and resources to put them all into place.

…or you have a ton of energy and excitement, but you lack the “big idea” you need to really make things happen for you.

Or maybe you have that one great idea, but you just don’t have the experience to bring it to its fullest potential.

This post is designed to give you some ideas, inspiration, and specific strategies you can use to create more leverage in your business today to help you overcome some of the adversity you face as a solo-preneur, and take your entrepreneurial drive, energy, and ideas to the next level.

5 Ways To Achieve More With Your Online Business

#1 – Outsource!

As a solo-preneur, you must start outsourcing some of your tasks and responsibilities. These can be things you need done but aren’t doing, things you’re currently doing but aren’t part of your unique abilities, things you’re currently doing but can be done cheaper (based on how you value your own time), or just things you suck at that someone else with specific training can do better and probably faster!

I can get into a lot of detail on outsourcing… but you’ll be better off reading the specific strategies I outlined in my previous article: The 10 Steps To Successfully Outsourcing Your Online Business.

My life and my business has never been the same since I started outsourcing many of my technical, research, and even managerial tasks.  I can now focus on my unique abilities that actually earn me money, and I have much greater leverage in my business and what I can do for myself and for my clients.

#2 – Get A Business Partner!

Having a business partner can be one of the greatest forms of leverage for both you and your partner, especially when done correctly. This doesn’t mean you take what you currently have and give half of it away to someone who’ll be your partner, and it doesn’t even mean that you’ll start a new venture and split everything 50/50.

You can set up revenue sharing and equity partnerships for new or existing ventures based on what each person brings to the table.

This can be a great option if you have new ideas for businesses, but don’t have all the time or resources to build them. In such a scenario, you would provide your ideas and some resources and some of your time, but find a business partner to run that “profit center” for you where you give a fair share of revenue and equity to that individual. This allows you to leverage your ideas, resources, and creative abilities, while having someone else do most of the implementation work. This also allows you to build multiple businesses simultaneously and expand your larger brand while also providing other entrepreneurial minded people with great opportunities that may be much greater than what they could produce on their own.

On the flip side, you can partner with a more successful entrepreneur and help them build out their new ideas, giving you great experience and a huge financial upside with less risk, while leverage their ideas, resources, experience, and creativity.

Of course, you can also equally partner with someone on a brand new venture, in which case you want to make sure you are really leveraging each other’s unique abilities. You want a partner who is strong where you are weak, and vice versa. This way, 1 + 1 does not equal 2, but something greater, because you can do much more together than if each of you just duplicated yourselves. It’s not just about finding someone “like-minded” but more so about finding someone with complimentary skills and strengths – even if you might not always agree, you can create more profitable and leverage businesses this way.

My biggest piece of advice, something I learned from my mentor Yanik Silver, is to clearly define your own unique abilities and having your business partners or profit center leaders do the same, and create partnerships based on these results. The Kolbe test is a vital tool for determining your strengths and unique abilities. Yanik had me take this before he considered working with me on any level, and since then I’ve had each of my employees take it and anyone I’ve considered working with on a significant level in business (and in life… I even had my girlfriend take it!)

#3 – Leverage Other’s Larger Brands or Traffic!

You don’t have to have the massive traffic or own a recognized brand to reap the benefits. You can leverage others’ brands and traffic in a win-win relationship where you both benefit greatly.

Guest blogging is one of the best and simplest examples of this leverage strategy. I am writing this post for IncomeDiary right now… sure I could write and publish the same content on my personal blog, or build my own blog about business advice and making money online, but it would take me ages to get nearly the same amount of traffic to my content as I get on the first day of having this post published here. In addition to my name and my ideas being exposed to thousands of readers, I am also getting brand recognition by association with the IncomeDiary brand, which increases my credibility online and opens up all kinds of other opportunities for me… I never know who might be reading this. Meanwhile, Michael gets some awesome (my humble opinion) content on IncomeDiary and gets a get variety through his various writers. He makes money from the site each time a new article is published, so it’s in his best interest to get people like me to write.

Find a popular blog in your industry and start guest blogging for it. You’ll be impressed how quickly you gain credibility and industry recognition… and you’ll find that your own traffic will increase as a result, as will your sales and your ability to charge more for what you do because of the association with a larger successful brand. So long as you provide great value, the owners of the blogs or magazines you write for will greatly appreciate your contribution. It’s a total win-win, and doesn’t cost you anything except your time.

Guest blogging is just one way of leveraging others’ larger brands and traffic. You can also explore different co-branding opportunities, such as co-authoring or contributing to others’ literary works (there are branding agencies for new authors that help align you with best sellers… costs some money but can be worth it if you want to be a recognized writer or contributor to your industry). Another great strategy is to interview big names (like IncomeDiary has done)… this not only gets you great content and big-name-brand association, but if you do it right the big names will share the interview content with their audiences, which can drive some great traffic back to your site.

You don’t have to necessarily have a “blogging business” to leverage such strategies. For example, my primary business is a web services company, but my blogging for IncomeDiary or doing my own side interviews with Internet marketers helps establish me as an authority in my industry, all with a lot less work and less money than it would take to get the same level of recognition through paid advertising or direct sales.

The flip side of this is that if you already have a recognized brand, you can totally use this strategy to let others leverage your brand to create more leverage in your own business. If you own a blog, you can recruit great guest bloggers. If you own more of a traditional business, you can use your recognized brand to recruit interns who will work for you for free in order to gain the experience and the brand association that comes with working for you. What better leverage than free labor! Especially free labor passionate about the opportunity to contribute to your business…

#4 – Create a Product!

An excellent way to leverage your current efforts is to create a product if you haven’t yet. Since we’re talking about online businesses here, you’re likely familiar with information products. You have to realize that if you are doing something successful in business, people are probably willing to pay you to teach them how you do what you do, what resources you use, what strategies you’ve picked up, and how to become successful at what you do.

If you believe that you do something or know something that people are willing to pay you to teach them, then you have a simple opportunity to leverage your current knowledge and/or business processes by creating an information product out of them.

This is pretty simple… document what it is what you do that others would find valuable. Write it in such a way that you could understand it when you were brand new and wish you had this information. You can make it a combination of PDF’s, videos, audios, worksheets, etc. You can sell it through a marketplace like ClickBank or entirely through your own membership site. There are entire products and sites dedicated to teaching you to create and monetize your own information products, so I won’t go into all the steps here, but I’ll definitely encourage you to explore any unique value you have to offer that others would pay for and turn it into an information product. One of the several ways this site (Income Diary) makes money is through Michael’s product where he teaches how to make a profitable site like this. He could have the profitable site with the product, but Site Profit Domination makes the site a lot more money from a process that was already being used and documented anyway.

Even if you only sell it for a few bucks (you can do better than that!), you’re creating additional leveraged income that you would not have otherwise had from knowledge you already had. In addition, documenting your unique processes and success story can actually help you improve and systemize your own business!

I’m going through this exact process now, putting together a high ticket product on how to build a successful web services company, and in addition to opening an exciting stream of leverage income for me in the near future, it’s been an incredible process of documenting and systemize my business processes and increasing efficiency and delegation within my company.

#5 – License Your Ideas or Strategies, Let OTHERS Do The Work!

You might have some great ideas or business processes, but don’t want to put in all the work to make and market your own product. Maybe you just want to make some of the product, then let some professional put the finishing touches on it, do all the marketing and distribution for it, take care of all the customer support and business development… then you just take a check every month for having the idea and getting it started.

This is what licensing is like for physical products, unique business processes, technologies, information, and more. In the online marketing world, one of the simplest way to pursue leverage this way is to let an Internet marketer or Internet marketing agency publish your product. You’re responsible for creating some good content, they do the rest… you can have much more successful results this way, and it’s a whole lot more leveraged than doing it all yourself. Meanwhile, you can focus on your primary business or go work on more content.

Of course, if you have marketing skills and distribution networks, you can leverage other people’s efforts and intellectual property while you use your marketing abilities and resources to publish their products, making the bulk of the revenue for their product or concept. What makes this somewhat different from a partnership described in the first strategy is that the one creating the product here is quite different from a business partner or a profit center, but more so an author or in some cases an idea catalyst.

I hope these five strategies for creating more leverage in your online business help you to create more freedom, earn more money, and focus more on your passions. If you don’t end up using any of these specific strategies, then take the inspiration and start think about other ways you can better leverage your business or your personal abilities. You’ll find you can reap massive benefits and also serve a lot more people.

Read more: ‘21 Ways Successful Entrepreneurs Think Differently’

The post 5 Ways To Create Leverage In Your Online Business appeared first on How To Make Money Online.