You know my story.. Lone parent, home business, yada yada.. anyway my son is called Logan. He begrudgingly says hello.
At the moment Logan is preparing to take his all-important GCSE exams, and the results will decide which direction his education will take for the next few years.
It’s a relatively stressful time for him. He’s under pressure from school, and I also ask him to spend an hour revising every night.
Obviously he would rather be hanging out with his friends, playing on the xbox.. or.. well.. almost anything else besides revising, he’s a typical teenager.
Secretly, I don’t blame him. I have my own issues with the education system. To me it’s nothing more than a production line and if I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I would never have put my son into state education. But that’s another story.
Anyway, every few weeks Logan decides that he doesn’t really need to revise.
He argues that his education doesn’t matter because he’s not going to get a ‘job’. He’s going to be his own boss because, he insists, that he’s going to start a business.
Now, the first time he told me this I hardly reacted – outwardly, but felt immensely proud. Inside I was dancing.
I kept my pride to myself because.. apparently being a responsible adult means I have to encourage him to focus on his education. Or something like that… other adults seem to think it’s important. Meh.
So I despite my disdain for education the system, I continue to make sure he focuses on the boring school work and encourage him to do his best.
But… the third time he told me that he’s going to build an Internet business, work from home and be his own boss, “just like you Dad”, something hit me square in the face.
I asked him “well that’s great son, but what are you currently doing in your spare time to make it happen?”.
He looked confused, and responded with “erm.. nothing”.
And then I realise.. he just wants freedom, independence, security… all the same stuff that you and I want, but he isn’t taking any action to make it a reality.
Ok, he’s ‘only’ a teenager… and while he’s far more technical than I was at his age, he’s never done anything remotely close to building a website, registering a domain name or building an email list. Basic stuff.
But that’s alright, I’ve already made a heap of step by step videos that he can watch, that walks him through everything he needs to know.
He’s even watched some.
He enjoys them.
He wants to watch more.
Awesome.
But he isn’t doing anything with the information.
I’ve laid it all out for him, all he has to do is point his mouse where I point mine and copy my moves.
He sees it as too much effort.
And then I realised something else.
Infotainment
There are a lot of people out there who are spending money products just like the ones I provide, a lot of people consuming this stuff… almost like it’s a form of entertainment.
And there are others who are addicted to buying them.. now I can’t help those guys.
But I can help the ones who want a business so much that they’re prepared to do something about it.
Logan’s young and he’s got plenty of time to figure out what he REALLY wants to do with his life. I’d prefer it if he found and pursues his own passions, the stuff that gives him joy, instead of following in my footsteps.
With some of the people I meet in this industry, they say they’re determined to build a business. And you can see it in their eyes. Hear it in their voice. It’s almost tangible.
So I frequently ask what’s stopping them, “nothing works” is the common reply.
Digging a little deeper.. I find that a lot of people are jumping around from one idea to the next, they’re bouncing from product to product, never sticking with a business model for more than a few days because it doesn’t show them how to instantly make enough money for them to leave their full time jobs.
It makes me wonder about info products in general.. Why do some people buy weight loss products, but never shed a pound?
Maybe the act of purchasing gives the customer permission to daydream about a better life. Maybe it gives them an excuse to not achieve the results they want. Maybe it gives them a scapegoat to blame for their procrastination.
I don’t know.
Well anyway, guess what? Just like losing weight, building a business takes time. It takes dedication. It takes discipline.
And it’s hard work.
I’m amazed that some people have spent years in a cycle of trying a product, giving up on it far too early, then end up feeling dejected and moving onto the next where the cycle starts all over again.
Even with the affiliate marketing guide I’ve created, it’s only the first step towards building a profitable business.
And in business you’re going to have good days and bad days, ups and downs.
Trust me, I’m an Internet marketer
Let’s be honest here, some people just aren’t meant to be in business. But with the amount of junk products out there it’s hard to know if the lack of success is because of insufficient training material or not.
It’s also next to impossible to know what products to trust, or which ‘guru’ to listen to.
Hint: If somebody outright tells you they’re “a guru”, of any sort – then chances are they’re full of it.
That’s also true if somebody is selling you “make money” products but has not demonstrated that they have a legitimate business outside of the Internet marketing industry. Don’t hand over your money – or email address.
Ask yourself; if this person is really making $10,000 a month from this secret ‘loophole’, why is he offering it to you and increasing his competition, for $7.
You’d think this would be obvious, but perhaps there’s a greater scam at work here and the initial promise allows people to become self-selecting victims, that can be targeted and tapped for larger amounts of money later on.
So if YOU are constantly looking out for the next ‘thing’ to try.. because you absolutely know there’s a system out there that works, and you’ve just got to find it.. then stop.
Stop and think about it for a second.
It won’t be easy to deal with. But it will be the truth.
And your future self will thank you for it.
Don’t buy anymore products (including mine). You don’t need them.
Get off the merry-go-round
Look through everything you’ve already got, choose something from your horde and run with it. Make a promise to yourself that for the next 3 months you’re not going to give up on this, even when it means you’re not making much money.
Tweak things, try your marketing stack in new combinations, test everything. Keep going until you start seeing results. You already have the knowledge, but you haven’t applied it.
What are doing here is building a valuable resource. And they aren’t built over the course of a few days, or weeks.
You’ve got the opportunity to keep doing what you’ve always been doing, and getting nowhere as a result.
Or you’ve got the opportunity to knuckle down and get serious about building a business.
The amount of time you invest is the same either way. Waste it jumping around trying to find a magic button that doesn’t exist, or spend the time building something of value.
Nobody is going to make that decision for you, and it takes courage, dedication and discipline to make it happen.