Issue 1 - October 12, 2010
Hey Genc,
As we begin our continuing conversation together in this first issue of One Step Ahead, I feel it's important to address what I see as one of the biggest root causes of frustration, disappointment and failure in online business.
Simply, the fact that most aspiring Internet Wealth Seekers are jumping into online business with no business experience whatsoever.
And in many cases, they are not even attempting to put on a business "hat" when developing their plan of action, and when executing it.
So in today's feature article, you're going to get an essential look into why few businesses ever succeed. And why those that do, become locked into a glorified "job"... which many were escaping from to begin with.
I'm looking forward to being with you every Tuesday and Friday as part of the Strategic Profits "One Step Ahead" Newsletter.
As we discuss critical business concepts that will make you money, including specific answers to reader questions in every issue.
I encourage you to submit YOUR most pressing questions, by using the link you'll find in every issue in the Today's Question and Answer with Rich section below.
To higher profits,
Rich Schefren
 How to Become a "Founder" and Join the Ranks of the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs
Almost every entrepreneur (or anyone who aspires to be one) has so many misconceptions about business it's scary.
It's scary because these mistaken thoughts, false beliefs, and flawed points of view are certain to castrate and shackle a business before it ever gets off the ground.
That's why so few businesses ever succeed, and of those that do succeed, only a fraction of their owners ever break free of them.
Today, I'm going to show you one way to differentiate yourself forever from the hordes of wannabe-moneymakers who never truly succeed. This first step can help you become a true business visionary - and join the ranks of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. I call this type of high-ranking success seeker a "Founder."
The first rule of becoming a Founder is:
You Don't Buy Opportunities - You Create Them
Lots of wannabe entrepreneurs are in a constant search for the hot opportunity.
The type of opportunity they're looking for at any given moment in time is determined by where they are in the evolution of their business.
If they're just starting out - they're searching for the hot business opportunity. You know, the perfect niche, the best business in a box, or the new untapped method to making millions.
If they already have an online business - they're searching for the hot traffic opportunity, the killer conversion strategy, or anything else that promises the secret shortcut to eliminating what's currently holding them back.
Their thinking being - I'd imagine - that people who are successful in business are successful because they know something that everyone else doesn't. That somehow, they know how to be there at the right time... Picking the right thing to do before anyone else knows about it...
In other words, what most Internet marketers seem to believe about successful entrepreneurs is that they're opportunists. That they're successful because they can smell opportunity before anyone else can. That they can jump on the "new hot thing" before anyone else gets wind of it. You know... the hot deal, the cutting-edge thing, the inside track, the search engine loophole, the backdoor pay-per-click bidding strategy, the social media strategy that never fails, etc...
And many Internet marketers and wannabe entrepreneurs are willing to pay anything to get their hands on that hot idea or strategy... Just because they think it's the "easy way" to making millions.
The Wrong Question to Ask
I've never really trusted the idea that making money is as simple as staking out the hot opportunities and riding them to fame and fortune.
Somehow the question "where's the hot opportunity?" smacks of naïveté. Even worse, it smacks of greed.
It's the kind of question asked by people who have never really had to, nor been willing to, pay the price necessary to create an opportunity of their own.
Somehow these opportunity-seeking entrepreneurs have grown to believe that there are nuggets of success hiding out there in the world under rocks. That all they have to do is know which rock to turn over... And the nugget will be theirs.
They believe that success is just a matter of knowing which rock to turn over! That out there in the world is a sure thing just waiting to be discovered. And that an entrepreneur is someone who has a nose for discovering such sure things.
In other words, the thinking goes... Sure things are what success is made of... Find a sure thing and your success is assured.
Founders Are Visionaries, Not Opportunists
My answer to these people has always been the same. The most successful entrepreneurs I know aren't opportunists. The most successful entrepreneurs I know are visionaries.
Now, let me be clear... Visionaries look for opportunities, too. But the big difference is in the type of opportunities they watch for.
Visionaries don't look for opportunities to do something different than everyone else is doing...
They see the hot opportunity in doing what everyone else is doing but doing it better than everyone else is doing it.
So, if Founders are visionaries, what exactly do they see?
Founders see opportunities to make others' lives better, easier, and more enjoyable.
The world isn't a perfect place. All of the imperfections that make this world less than ideal are opportunities to build a business. And not just a business that squeezes as much money out of people as possible in the fastest time possible... But a business that makes a difference in the world by making a difference in the lives of its potential customers.
But understand what I said. The opportunity that launches a business isn't about making YOUR life better (although it will get better if you grasp this). The opportunity is to make SOMEONE ELSE'S life better. That someone else is your potential customer. You want to serve his or her desires better than anyone has ever done before. Only when you do that can you get everything that you want.
And this is the rule that's most often violated with all the different opportunities presented online. They claim that somehow you'll benefit even though no one else in the world does. Of course, real life doesn't work that way.
It All Starts With a Vision
Choose an ordinary business... A business where there's lots of competition. Where there are lots of other people doing it like most people do business. In an ordinary, careless, perfunctory, unresponsive, thoughtless way.
Then design your business to solve a bigger problem, an overlooked frustration, or the same problem as everyone else but solved in better, faster, more convenient, or cheaper way. And then do that business like crazy. I mean whole hog plus the postage. Do that business like no one else has ever done it before you.
Choose an ordinary business and do that business in an extraordinary way. You'll have the hottest business opportunity around.
All it takes to build an extraordinary business is the knowledge, the will, the skill, and the plain old durability needed to weather the resistance you'll meet on the way. The resistance from the world and the people in it who simply don't want to do the work necessary to create a business that works. And the resistance from that lazy inner part of yourself who simply doesn't want to rise to the occasion.
When it comes down to it, pushing the ordinary into the extraordinary is about the only hot opportunity around. Ingenuity and work are what it takes to make your business happen. For you, for your family, for your customers, for the people who work for you. It's about thinking in a totally new and original way. It's about thinking like a Founder.
Start thinking like a Founder, and you'll be able to help but see opportunities. Because they are all around us... Every time you see a condition that is just dying to be fixed, or changed, or reinvented, or transformed... Anytime you see a problem that cries out to be solved... Or a desire that craves fulfillment... Know that right there you have found the seeds to a great business. Resources To Grow Your Online Business...
If Your Business Isn't Growing, It's Dying!
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Today's Question and Answer with Rich
"Rich, can you talk about what you're up to?
I noticed you've been sort of in quiet mode for a while."
- Howard
Rich's Answer: "I have been quiet. And part of it is because I've been working on a bunch of new things.
The other part is that I made a decision about a year and a half ago... That the idea of doing product launches to stay in business was not really my goal in life.
Because I think that long term, whether it lasts for another year or two or ten... At some point, that model will become stale. And if I don't have a business where a launch is just icing on the cake, then I really don't have a business.
So, I've gone more in the direction of building sustainability.
That doesn't mean we won't do launches. We will.
But we haven't done one in a while. It's been longer than we've ever gone without a launch. That's primarily because we've been working on stuff that brings in money day-in, day-out... regardless of whether we're making a big to do.
There is another big thing that I'm working on. Then all of a sudden I might be more active in the market. Because I've been trying to crack this one thing for quite a while and I'm getting very, very close. It revolves around a different way of marketing than what's being done now. A different way of delivering content than is being done now. And everything about it is different than what's current.
That's what I've been working on. That's what I love doing.
Our business right now is already more sustainable. We're able to grow without the launches. Which gives me a lot more latitude and flexibility to do the things I want to do most... which still drive the business, but not with the same pressure or necessity.
I'm not forecasting the end of launches. But there will be a day where that model is going to fall down. Every model does. It could be ten or twenty years from now. Who knows? It could be next month.
But the time to build a business that's not reliant on product launches is when launches are working and you're still able to make money with them. Because then you have the time to make it work.
That's why I made that decision a little over a year ago. And I've taken a back seat when it comes to being one of the standard players. And that's okay. Because we've been working with other people, and doing bigger deals, that aren't the typical Internet marketing "frenzy" type of deals."
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