OH MY GOD!

Behind you! He’s right behind you!

Can’t you see him?

ARRRGGGHHH!!

Too late…

Think of a Hitchcock movie.

Right from the beginning, you know the killer.

Then… For hours… You follow the murderer… Preparing his evil act…

And you see the many potential victims going about their day… But they don’t realize he’s a killer… And you want to shout at the screen to warn them…

But you don’t even know who will get killed.

All of them? The most obvious one? Or himself maybe?

Your heart is pounding. It drives you nuts.. And suddenly, BAM! Too late.

Your murderer brain is lurking around every day.

Scary, isn’t it?

“Oh, but I’m innocent”, he claims. “I’m just protecting you. It’s my job.”

Think about it, how often do you suffer from whatifitis?

Huh? Suffer from what, Yann?

You know…

When – deep inside – your brain is asking:

What if I fail?

What if people think I suck?

What if I don’t have enough money to pay the bills?

What if I can’t stay focused and get this done?

What if something terrible happens?

That’s your brain. Busy killing the opportunities around you.

Sure, some of them have very little potential.

But how many times has your brain stopped you from moving forward with promising opportunities – because of too many ‘What-ifs’?

Talk soon,

Yann

Now, this underlying lack of confidence in parts of our lives applies to most people.

This means to your customers too.

 
So, it’s critical you remember to subtly address this insecurity when you speak to them… Write sales copy, content for your website or your marketing messages.

I remember Dan Kennedy candidly mentioning something along those lines at one of his marketing seminars – a few years ago.

Kennedy explained that most people don’t believe in their own abilities…

And that, frequently, the first 2/3 of his sales letters have the key objective to get his readers to believe that they can do it – whatever the “it” might be.

 
Often, your customers unconsciously believe that people enjoying a higher level of success are more capable, or better, smarter, etc…

And if they consciously think so, they’re unlikely to tell you!

So, even if they rationally know that these better results come from a different attitude – rather than any other qualities…

Your sales process must subtly acknowledge and answer this silent objection.

How are you addressing your customers insecurities about their worthiness and abilities?

Talk tomorrow,
Yann

” Sow a thought and you reap an action;
sow an act and you reap a habit;
sow a habit and you reap a character;
sow a character and you reap a destiny.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

At first, this seems like a nifty way of presenting things…

But when you take the time to ponder these thoughts, you realize how profound Emerson’s point actually is.

How does that apply to you?

Your life?

And your efforts to achieve financial freedom?

Hmmm… I’ve got to go and do some thinking!

Talk tomorrow,
Yann

Let’s face it: There aren’t many self improvement tips giving you fast enough results to make it easy to sitck to them.

In a moment, I’ll share a simple one with you that I’ve personally found very valuable – to counteract any limiting beliefs that might be holding you back.

Discussing our deep feelings of unworthiness – in my previous post How to achieve financial freedom… Are you worthy of it? – reminded me of a fun moment at T Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind training.

During the whole Millionaire Mind seminar, Harv Eker spends a lot of time addressing the audience’s limiting beliefs about making money.

When he specifically tackles the issue of some of us feeling unowrthy of being rich, he clearly deconstructs how this is an imaginary label we’ve unconsciously accepted.

And since this label is made up, it only exists if we let it.

At one point, T Harv Eker tells the audience how lucky they are that he is in fact… A worthiness minister.

He then proceeds to annoint everyone WORTHY!

I wish it was that simple.

Admittedly, it’s fun and a cool feeling when you’re there. But it really takes daily reinforcement to counteract years of programming that you’re not worth much.

So if you really want to achieve financial freedom but you just can’t stop procrastinating and sabotaging your efforts…

Here’s a simple mission for you:

It will take less than 5 minutes a day…

Every evening, before going to bed, take a few minutes to record all your daily victories - no matter how small.

Only go to bed after you’ve found at least five of them (after a while, you’ll find nmany more). I must admit this only becomes easier after the first couple of days.

This daily Success Log reinforces that no matter how tough your day’s been, you actually experienced many small victories.

Essentially, you’re consciously choosing to focus on your successes. Because if you’re feeling unworthy deep inside, you’ll naturally tend to ponder your disappoinments instead.

One of the resaons I believe this simple exercise works – so well – is that you get to review something that you actually experienced.

So you get to re-live for a moment these feelings of success. Whereas visualization or repeating affirmations, for example, are more difficult to “feel” and accept internally because that haven’t yet become reality .

Try it tonight and experience the benefits for yourself.

Talk tomorrow,
Yann

PS: Want a bonus tip? In addition to the evening Success Log, I  also start tthe day going through the list of my past major successes.

When you try this tomorrow morning, think of situations that were major victories at the time – from riding a bike without help to getting your very first job. We so easily take our past successes for granted we forget how much of an achievement they actually were.

Do this daily to prime your mind to focus on what you succeed at… And experience the positive difference.

We hate to admit it…

But one of the underlying beliefs that stops many of us from achieving what we are truly capable of is a deeply ingrained sense of unworthiness.

This was all created many years ago when a parent, teacher, or person of authority told us “you’ll never amount to anything”, or any of the many “confidence killers” you may have heard over the years.

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The fact is, these people did the best they could considering the programming they had received themselves.

So forgiving them – and accepting the existence of this hidden limiting belief – is the starting point to moving beyond it.

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The next step is to become aware of how this belief expresses itself in your life through the actions, or lack of action, you take…

Anything that “works” to confirm the belief you’re not worth of the goals you’re striving to reach.

Things like: Watching TV, browsing the web, or playing video games when you know you should be focusing on building your business… Starting a new project while the previous one would likely succeed with just a litlle more effort… Letting a “something-came-up” situation override your schedule when you were due to take a critical step forward… And many more…

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If you’re starting to realize that this applies to you, you’ll want to take 5 minutes right now to list your own regular behaviors that get in the way of you getting the financial results you aspire to.

Reflect on that list for a while.

And we’ll pick up in a future post.

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Talk tomorrow,

Yann

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Some of them are more likely to lead you to profits than others.

If you’re really serious about building a profitable business, you may want to  consistently remind yourself of your tendencies to unconsciously favor specific activites…

And carefully choose what you spend time working on.

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Here’s a very clear way of putting it:

“Art is the beautiful way of doing things.

Science is the effective way of doing things.

Business is the economic way of doing things.”

- Elbert Hubbard

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For clarity, I would personally rephrase Hubbard’s last  sentence as “Business is the profitable way of doing things”.

Become aware of your natural inclinations…

Often, your brain is your ally only when you control it.

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Talk tomorrow,

Yann

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Human beings are interesting…

We have this tendency to listen to our friends’ opinions… Because they’re our friends.

Are your friends wealthy and happy?

To listen to common wisdom… Because it’s called “wisdom” and is everywhere around us.

Do you envy the lifestyle of “common people”?

To listen to the media’s biases… Because someone sold us on the idea that journalists research their topic before reporting on it.

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We don’t want to be like these people we let influence us.

But we don’t want to feel too different from what we’re familiar with.

It’s uncomfortable.

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So, may I suggest a simple daily routine for your mornings?

1. Remind yourself of the current life of who you’ve listened to so far.

2. Review the results you want in your life (and the gap between the two).

3. Consciously choose whose opinions you’re going to seek out – and whose opinions you will avoid.

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I’m not particularly a fan of Bob Allen but I think this quote really nails it:

“Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you.

Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy.

Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky.

Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy.

Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.”

- Robert G. Allen

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May I suggest you take the time to reflect on this?

Talk tomorrow,

Yann

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Did you answer the key question we asked ourselves in yesterday’s installment “Making money online? Hahaha…“?

Not yet?

Go back to read it now. I’ll wait for you.

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Oh, you’re back.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?

What it really comes down to is price paying.

If you answered “a website”, chances are that, like me, you unconsciously perceived creating a real business was too high a price to pay.

So part of you gave in to the “push-button money” myth.

Part of you stops you from completing what you started with your site.

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You want the money, the comfort, the freedom a business can bring you…

But you secretly don’t want a business.

Because a business means effort.

Means you could fail.

Means you’ll be different from the majority of people around you.

Means some people will think of you as a greedy and evil person.

Means some people will laugh at you and think you’re an unrealistic fool.

Means you’ll have to deal with lawyers, taxes, employees.

Means the time you’ll need to devote to building a real profitable online business will take you away from family, friends, and many leisure activities.

And much, much more… ;-)

Like… Every other negative belief you attach to the idea of building a business in your unique view of the world.

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So how can you get past these limiting beliefs anchored at the back of your mind?

Simple.

Accept these beliefs.

Accept who you are.

Accept you’re not prepared to pay the price for this particular type of business.

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Then try this easy 5-minute exercise:

Simply list all the answers that come to mind – in detail – when answering this question…

Feel free to be “unrealistic” at this stage.

Get pen and paper – I’ll wait…

Ready?

What type of business are you more than happy to pay the price for?
(In terms of time it requires, type of people you deal with, etc…)

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Rather than following what some “guru” tells you is the perfect turnkey online business this week…

Leverage who YOU are.

When you’re true to yourself answering this question, you’ll have a much clearer idea of the type of internet marketing business that will work for YOU. Of what YOUR ideal business needs to look like.

And once you’re clear on this goal, you’ll find the information and advice you need easily – wihtout the need to jump on every new internet marketing resource.

This type of clarity leads to focus, persistence and action.

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Try it for yourself.

You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Talk tomorrow,
Yann

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Does this sound familiar?
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You really want to make money online.
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In fact, you’ve been trying for months – maybe even years.
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You’ve been working hard at it too.
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You’ve got all the know-how. You know all the tricks about affiliate marketing. SEO. PPC. Copywriting. Traffic…
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You’ve got all the ebooks. Watched the videos. Own programs from the big name marketers. And have more social media profiles than you can remember.

Your hard drive is overflowing with so much cutting-edge information you could almost be considered an internet marketing expert yourself.
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But when it comes to making money online…
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Somehow it hasn’t quite happened.
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At least, not to the level of comfort you were expecting.
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Welcome to the club!
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It is unfortunately a very frequent situation on the internet marketing scene.

There are many reasons for this…
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But I believe they all revolve around a single key point.
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A simple question.
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And if  you really want to achieve financial freedom online, you must answer it – honestly – for yourself:
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Do you want a business or do you want a website?
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It personally took me a long time to accept that my answer was the major obstacle to my success on the web. (And it’s still work in progress.)
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Take the time now to honestly answer the question.
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Tomorrow, we’ll look at why it’s probably what’s been holding you back.
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Hey, I know how it feels – I was in the same situation for over a couple of years (Yes, years!). Be easy on yourself.
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Talk tomorrow,
Yann

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Time to stop procrastinating – and to get organized.

Successful millionaires and business owners have no time to focus on all the prevalent doom and gloom.

They think about sex.

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Okay, maybe I should clarify this last statement.

Pursuing our choice to focus on what’s working today…

I came across another interesting article:

SSL International Sales Up 20%.

What do they sell?

Condoms and sex toys.

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Now, you may understandably not want to get into the sex industry….

But once again the key is about focusing on the current patterns in the marketplace.

More people stay at home.

They simply don’t go out as often as they used to.

But boredom remains an enemy - they still want to have fun (possibly even more).

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How can you adapt your business – or create one – to take advantage of this?

Does your product involve getting outside house – which costs money? If so, might you want to emphasize its “usefulness factor” and provide the socially acceptable justification for doing so?

How about adding a “useful for years to come” element to your offer? In yesterday’s ‘sewing machines’ article, one chain of retailers was reported to boost demand for its crafts materials by offering sewing and knitting classes…

How can you help your customers with the rediscovery of their creativity?

How can you create a home version of what you offer? (Information marketing comes to mind as a good model!…)

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And even if you can’t think of a way to directly adapt to this pattern, could you use this for your gifting program, contests and premiums?

Offering all-paid-for vouchers for a family dinner out, movie tickets, or other outside-the-house leisure activities your clients might forego, may well have increased perceived value nowadays.

Or maybe there’s a simple, cost-effective way for you to offer your clients some form of entertainment that doesn’t require them to leave the house? I hear board games are making a comeback…

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Again, I’m just throwing ideas that might work…

Will you choose to consider them – or focus on everything that no longer works?

(No 2 cents today, I spent them yesterday – so I’m staying home!)

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Talk tomorrow,
Yann