I want to share with you today, a story that is all about love, hatred and betrayal. It is an inspiring and gripping tale that will leave you wondering what the next chapter will bring. You can rest assured that there will be no end to this saga.
At it’s core, this is a classic story line. You know it very well, I’m sure. It is the quintessetional “boy meets search engine” tale. For those of you who are unaware, it goes something like this: Boy meets search engine, boy becomes besotted by the power and unparalled reach of the search engine, search engine kicks boy to the curb (for no apparent reason), boy’s account is suspended and his once thriving business is shut down overnight.
What I have just described, is the most recent round of ’slaps’ for Adwords advertisers. For the purposes of this story, we’ll refer to the boy as “Cam” and the search engine as “Google” (this is actually based on a true story .
From the very start, we could see the unbelievable power of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising to drive traffic to our landing pages. It is fast, targetted and when done well, yields an extremely high ROI. We knew that the top earners rely almost exclusively on PPC to generate the number of leads necessary to build a profitable business in this industry. So from day one, Cam immersed himself in learning PPC. After a couple of months of full throttle study, he unleashed our campaign, and within four months, we had been recognized with a master marketing award by CCPro. It was a giddy ride. Cam loved the science and precision of PPC. We could see immediately which of our campaigns were working, and which weren’t. Our campaigns delivered us highly qualified leads within hours of turning them on, almost more than we could handle in fact.
But then the rules of engagement changed. Google, partly at the behest of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) went on the rampage in the home based business industry. Any Adwords campaigns that drove traffic to landing pages which were replicated, or obvious “biz opp” pages, were shut down. Use of trademarked company names in Adwords campaigns, such as Liberty League International, Lifepath or Global Resorts Network, also led to the shut down of the campaign.
Now, in some cases, accounts were ’slapped’, and advertisers received a warning. In other cases, accounts were suspended (definitely more serious). Worse, some advertisers were advised in writing, that Google would not accept any advertising from them ever again.
Obviously, this is pretty devastating, but when we consider what has happened in the context of why it has happened, it is actually not as grim as you might imagine.
Having spent a lot of time listening to people such as Perry Marshall, Dr Glenn Livingston, Frank Kern and Cherie Yvette (as well as gleaning information from Google itself), it has become apparent that a couple of forces are at work here. Firstly, the FTC is cracking down on the home based business industry in a big way.
It would seem that there is a strong move to clean up the “get rich quick” marketers who extract a lot of money from people who are chasing a dream, and are generally not well suited to work this type of business (these same marketers give this industry a very bad name). This is a very good thing. For those of us conducting our businesses online with integrity and professionalism, this will narrow the pack considerably. It will also protect consumers to a greater degree than ever before.
Google enjoys market share online (a staggering 83.5% amongst a field of thousands of search engines), and the reason why, is because it consistently delivers value to searchers in the form of relevant, current and unique information on each and every search. So you can understand why Google might be inclined to crack down on replicated websites.
This is where a solid understanding of marketing principles is going to be absolutely critical to your success online. You will need to know how to research what your niche is searching for, and how to deliver that information to them in a professional manner. And the principles that underpin the way the search engines function are not likely to change in dramatically in any way, other than to continue to tighten up to protect searchers/consumers when they are online looking for products, services, businesses and information.
You have now joined the ‘Information Marketing’ industry. You will need to learn how to research and present high quality relevant information online, and in doing so, position yourself as a person of value and a leader.
So, in the final wash up, the ending is not necessarily the disaster it first appeared to be. Increase your value to the world, present your business in an honest and professional way, and stay abreast of search engine requirements (by tapping into as much training in the CCPro back office as you can), and you should be well positioned to enjoy a happy ending.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan

This week the guys at mystoryhub let us know about a new service that is detailed here … http://myccmarketing.com/services/mystoryhub.php
A quick word of advice/clarification … I think (pls correct me if I’m wrong as I wasn’t on the call), I think this is a service offering to set up a hub site. Now this is fine, if you want someone to set up a good looking personally branded website.
But (and this is a big “but”) if you’re after a Google Adwords-friendly landing page to beat Google slaps, I don’t know if this is the answer. You’ll have to clarify it with the guys at MyStory Hub.
My big concern, when I checked out the http://myccmarketing.com/services/mystoryhub.php
offer is that it didn’t mention that they can or will design any “landing pages” for us.
Now, here, everyone needs to understand there is a huge difference between a landing page (squeeze page, capture page, opt-in page) and a “branded personal website or blog”.
The examples at http://myccmarketing.com/services/mystoryhub.php are “branded personal websites/blogs”. Tanya and my branded personal website is http://cameronandtanya.com. On the other hand, an example of one of our Landing pages is http://e-bizonline.com. Huge difference in form and function.
A landing page is set up with the sole purpose of capturing a lead’s name and email address (and possibly phone number). You can have dozens of these doing their job all over the internet.
A branding page (personal website) on the other hand serves a totally different purpose (in terms of our sales process). This is where people go — after they have become a lead. You direct them there, once you have established contact with them to get to …
* know you
* like you
* build rapport with you
* and trust you.
It’s like inviting people to your Home, after you made initial contact with them in a business sense (after they’ve been to your landing page).
So, your prospects will generally (99% of the time) become a lead from your landing page, not from your branded website/mystory hub/Wordpress blog.
It can be confusing. But it is dangerous (if that’s the right word) to imagine that you can have a personal branding page that ALSO functions as a landing page (lead capture page). The two have to be considered as serving two completely separate functions. One capture, the other rapport.
I would have liked to see the mystoryhub offer include a Google Adwords-friendly landing page design, with the form and everything. You’ll want to check this out with them.
Yes, you can certainly include a landing page within your personal website. But the landing page’s purpose and navigation should be isolated from the rest of the site. Otherwise people will get there, get distracted and start wandering around, instead of focussing and giving you their name and email address in return for the promise of “what’s on the other side”. You see, if there is no “other side” because the other side is already conveniently laid-out for them in your navigation bar, then there will be no reason for them to provide their name and address.
So I’d be asking the guys at mystoryhub if they can incorporate a Google Adwords-friendly landing page
for you.
You will want them to basically copy the general wording and layout from one of the landing pages from the back office. But change the design and change the names of the graphics and maybe include a pic of yourself and a sentence to introduce you (to make it Google Adwords-friendly). You will want them to bring across a “form” (the bit where the person fills in their name and email address) and they will need to link that back to aWeber and then back in to CCPro back office for you so you can track your leads.
I’ve just been through this today. Quite involved (sheesh). Good luck.
At the end of the day when approaching the thought of planning a landing page that’s not hosted by CCPro don’t be thinking you can incorporate one with, for instance, a personal blog site Home Page for instance. I just don’t think it will work. Too distracting. A traditional welcome page with a “For More Information” Form, is not a Lead Capture page, not an effective one anyway.
Yes, it is still a good idea to have a lead capture form on your Home Page and wherever else you might want one, but it’s not going to get many leads for you.
Of course there’s always an exception. Michael Forces blog (see picture below) at http://securebusinessmodel.com is the exception in this case. Michael has designed this whole site like a personal blog site.
But it’s not a “blog site that acts as a landing page”.
It is, rather, a landing page that looks like a blog site. Or, to be more accurate, a series of landing pages that, together, look like a blog site. Very cool. You go from one page to the next and unwittingly you are being confronted by one “landing page” after another. Ingenious. Each page makes you want to join Michael to see what’s on the other side. He gives a lot of info, but he’s careful about what he doesn’t tell so that there is still the offer of something incredible “on the other side”. Every page has an opt-in Form. You have to fill in the form to see a “Private Business Overview”. Every page has pics of Michael and Dalila enjoying the lifestyle made possible by “whatever it is on the other side”. Every page has great headlines. Every page follows a similar rythm and feel.
I hope this makes sense. Please understand you don’t have to worry about Google Adwords-Friendly landing pages unless you are doing Google Adwords advertising to get your leads.
Cheers,
Cameron

I want to share with you the experience I had with a consultant of ours who dropped out of the business a couple of months ago. He was a guy who got started in the business all fired up with sky high hopes, dreams of travel, luxury cars, and a life of complete financial freedom and independence (can you relate so far?).
A very likable man, who had experienced a modest degree of financial success in his previous business. He had spent a marathon 30 years in the construction industry, and had worked so hard physically, that it had ultimately taken a severe toll on his body. He looked to the Internet (as many people do) as a means of building another business, without working himself into an early grave.
He had never had any experience in sales, marketing, or working online. A complete infant, in that regard. But he did have time to learn, and the money to set himself up well, and position at a high level. He proclaimed himself to be 100% teachable, and someone who never gives up. I have heard these words often.
So he threw himself into the set up and marketing, absolutely convinced that he was going to make it big in record time. I admired his passion and commitment, but from early on, his expectations concerned me.
He started marketing, but had not completed his set up properly. When this was pointed out to him, he literally threw together an “About Me” page, which contained a very poor quality photo, and a “My Story” that was 95% business pitch. I suggested to him that he slow down, and take the time to do this well. After all, in business, it is vital that we put our best foot forward because first impressions are critical.
His response was “but that IS me”. He would not change what he had done.
Next, he posted dozens and dozens of free classified ads. His results staggered me. He had 194 visits to his landing page in 3 days. But not a single lead. He called me up, and complained that classified ads don’t work. You can see, from the results he got, that they do work (and he had obviously written some excellent ads, to generate that response). But when the visitors got to his landing page, what did they find? A blurry photo of a guy dressed in fishing clothes, lounging in a deck chair, beer in hand, in front of a faded wooden fence, with a blatant “join my business” style sales pitch to go with it.
I spoke to him about the importance of transitioning searchers from your advertising material to your landing page, so that you are delivering the information they are looking for. And then I taught him how to interpret the feedback you get from the market. For example, if you write an ad that sends 194 people to your landing page in 3 days, it is correct to assume that it was a compelling ad, right? The crack opened up when they hit the landing page, and saw the poor quality, unprofessional customization.
I was starting to feel really frustrated. He simply WOULD NOT take on any of the suggestions I made. And he was getting frustrated as well. He was working hard to set things in motion, and he did not generate a single lead from his efforts.
I was starting to wonder what he would throw at me next. And it was a doozy. He engaged the services of the SEOPROS to optimize his landing pages. This, despite the fact that CCPro had posted warnings to members that they were scammers.
I explained this to him, and he said that they had been really nice to him on the phone, and he was going ahead with it. Nothing I could say would convince him otherwise.
A week or so later, he got back to me again, and complained that the landing pages don’t work. His pages had been “optimized” for page one ranking in organic search, but again, lots of visits, and not a single lead. I took a deep breath (I am a patient person, but we all have our limits and checked out his page. It had been butchered. It was certainly “optimized” but it reeked of scam. Buried on the landing pages were things like the day’s weather forecast for Chicago, sports results for ice hockey in Canada, and political news stories from Washington (consider that his keywords were “CEO level income potential Sydney). Okaay.
I walked him through this, and he vowed to get back to SEOPROS and demand they correct it. Naturally, their response was that all they guaranteed was page one ranking, and they had delivered. Case closed. So now he is another $5,000USD down. And not one single lead.
After this debacle, he emailed me to say he was quitting. He had stuck at it for less that four months.
When we join this business, we fill in an application form, where we are given the opportunity to explore whether we are suitable to do this business. The questions we fill out, relate to our level of determination, and our teachability. Everyone (that I have read), without exception, professes to be 110% determined, committed, teachable and focussed. Unfortunately, the reality is that few people actually possess these qualities, and don’t understand the importance of developing them.
We all start out with ideas in our mind about how we are going to do our business, and we become emotionally “attached” to our plans. Few people like to change their minds, because on some level, they feel that it is an admission that their previously held beliefs are somehow “wrong”. And let’s face it, no-one likes to be wrong.
Understand that part of the learning curve requires you to stretch yourself and process new ideas. And learning also requires change. Most people are uncomfortable with change, because by nature, change IS uncomfortable. I’m sure you can all relate to feeling overwhelmed with new information and frightened by higher expectations you suddenly have of yourself when you first got started. Being out of your comfort zone is confronting, and you can find yourself struggling, like a fish out of water. It is natural to want to reach backwards for the relative safety and familiarity of what you have always known and always done.
But in this business our goal is to move forward, so take a moment to contemplate this: Are you completely happy with the outcomes of your decisions and actions in your business to date? Are your plans delivering you the results you want? If the answer is “no”, then it may be time to really embrace new ideas and make changes. And you don’t have to start with huge bold leaps on your own. Simply following instructions and completing one new task at a time is a way of shaping change, one baby step after another.
After all, as Albert Einstein is famously quoted as saying “The definition of insanity is continuing a behavior with the belief it will result in a different outcome”.
If you want things to change, you must change. You beliefs, your behaviors and your plans. Embrace the discomfort in the short term, and enjoy the journey as you see how you ultimately determine your own script.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Las Vegas for the M2 conference and Pro marketing day. They were fabulous events. Record attendance for both companies. Over four days, hundreds and hundreds of people from around the world had gathered together to learn how to manage their money, market their business, and to network with their peers.
And one of the things that struck me while I was there, was the frenzy around the top earners in the industry. It is quite extrordinary. People genuinely want to meet the successful people they see online, which is really lovely. But there is more to it than that, I am convinced.
I find that while I am away, I seem to spend a lot of time “training” people. Out in the hallways between sessions, at mealtimes, and even in the queue for the bathroom. And while I might be in the middle of recommending a resource we found useful or a strategy we used, freqently people interrupt and ask “That’s great, but what is your secret?” or “I have been in the business for twelve months, and I am not getting anywhere, and you made money so quickly”.
And this is where it becomes clear to me that many people (too many) have an enormous disconnect between expectation and the reality of running a successful business. There are many reasons why this is the case, to my mind at least.
Firstly, the reasons why people are attracted to this industry (primarily, no boss) are also the very factors that make this such a challenging business. It takes an extraordinary amount of self discipline to be self employed, but even more so to work from home. I mean, you don’t even have to get dressed before you go to work if you don’t feel like it. To a degree, I feel that a high level of self discipline is something that must be inherent before you get started. I have seen few people cultivate it through practice over time.
Second, people are led to understand (through the marketing) that this is an easy business. That has always been the case with MLM and Network Marketing at least. How many millions of people have been attracted to the “This business is so easy, virtually anyone can do it” or “This product is so good it sells itself” type of headline? Again, a reality check is in order here. There are few people who are successful in business of any kind, for a whole range of reasons. And having been in brick and mortar business before, I can say that this business is infinitely more difficult, because there is no immediate traffic for your business. And competition for traffic online is fierce.
Third, havent we all been seduced by the promise of the “Four Hour Work Week”? Brilliant book and concept, but once again, the promise does not match the way the world spins. Most of us coming into this business have to learn a whole new skill set (some more than others, depending on your background). And to master a new skill set requires time. And lots of it. I highly recommend “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, where he talks about the concept of 10,000 hours. There is a long held theory that it takes 10,000 hours of learning and execution to master a skill set. And I believe this to be true. There are no short cuts. Many people seem to spend 10,000 hours trying to figure out how to get out of doing the 10,000 hours, that they wear themselves out with the act of avoidance.
At the Pro marketing day, Michael Force (top earner in both companies) spoke very candidly about the success he has enjoyed in his business, and made one point crystal clear. He described himself as a Type A personality (meaning extremely highly driven and competetive). And he attributes this to his success. He described himself as a workaholic, and now that he has a young baby, he is re-training himself to get out of the office to spend time with her. I think this admission came as a real shock to many people. He makes it look so effortless, but the reality is the exact opposite.
When we see some of the top earner stories, we also need to know that there is always a story behind the story. For example, all of the top earners were high performers in their previous careers. Or perhaps they had a strong background in sales. Maybe they had been with another MLM and brought their entire downline with them. And I don’t say that to take away from their success. Without exception, these are people who have been dedicated, driven and diligent, and have worked extremely hard.
All of these people have also experienced the overwhelming tsunami of information we have to process and make sense of when we get started. They too have wandered aimlessly through the labyrinth of possibility, before deciding which direction to drive their business in, hoping that it would be a good decision. They also had many, many moments plagued with frustration when they hit a technology glitch. But what is common to all of them, is that they are not afraid to make mistakes, they understand that things will not be perfect first time around, and they know they have to fail fast, and fail forward in order to get down to the business of making money.
So two thoughts to leave you with today. Are your expectations realistic? Have you really put in focussed, high quality hours learning with a specific plan in mind, or have you spent a lot of time skating around online, trying to find the quickest, easiest way, only to wind up on You Tube blubbering at the sight of Susan Boyle singing “I have a dream”? (yes, that last example relates specifically to me, I confess:-).
Are you comparing yourself to others in the industry, and beating yourself up that they made $30,000 in their first 30 days, and you have been in for months and have not made a cent? If so, stop right now. Comparison is the thief of joy. If you have genuinely dedicated yourself to learning the business, celebrate the gains in knowledge you have made, and temper your expectations. In our brick and mortar business, we worked for an average of 70 hours per week, for 50 weeks of the year, for five years before we were even profitable. And that was a great result. It did not occur to us that it should have happened faster, because we had so much to learn.
Focus on your gains, fail fast and forward and make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan

So did the headline compel you to read on? It’s actually not my own headline, although it is quite risque, which is absolutely my style ordinarily . I have to give credit here to a brilliant direct response copywriter called Ben Settle. And I’m going to share this story with you now because it contains not one, not two, but three fabulous take aways. Sorry, I won’t be throwing in a complimentary set of steak knives if you continue to read on.

Ben is an internationally known and respected copywriter who both develops his own products, and writes on behalf of other business people.
I was listening to a training call between Ben and Dr Glenn Livingston one day, and Ben was talking about the headline that has generated more opt ins for him in his business than any other. And it was the headline I lured you here with today (picture me rubbing my hands together in a faux evil gesture).
But by way of explanation, Ben was referring to the fact that when he speaks on the phone, he picks up and waves around a hand gun that he keeps on his desk. Now, don’t be alarmed, Ben is not a gun toting homicidal maniac. The gun serves a very practical function.

Research has shown that when you engage your hands in a physical activity, it stimulates the creative centre of your brain. Ben said that when he is on the phone, brainstorming with clients, he has his best ideas and breakthroughs when his hands are busy, waving his hand gun around. You can imagine that he does not employ this tactic when he is meeting people face to face. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that it would probably make most people feel quite uncomfortable.

And don’t think for a moment that I am suggesting you dash out and purchase a hand gun for the purpose of stimulating your creativity. Any physical object that you can roll around in your hand would do the job equally well. A stress ball, a smooth stone or similar would do the trick. I roll a stress ball around in my hand while I listen to trainings. It works!

Also, don’t discount the impact and importance of getting away from your screen on a regular basis, and grounding yourself, particularly outside. Feeling sunshine and fresh air on your face, walking on the grass or sand with bare feet, or getting your hands dirty in the garden engages and connects your mind and body, and helps you to find perspective. Actually, I’ll amend that by saying you will find perspective only if you are actually looking for it. It won’t happen by osmosis.

As entrepreneurs, it is critical that we develop the skill and habit of looking for solutions, rather than becoming bogged in problems. You will be astounded at how powerful this is when you come back to the screen.

So that was takeaway number one: engage in physical activity regularly, even while talking on the phone or listening to training in order to stimulate your creativity.

Takeaway number two refers to the headline. I tend to labor this point, but only because it is that important. A powerful headline is what will compel someone to read your article or not. In fact, most people will read only a headline, a caption (underneath a photo) or the PS message in piece of writing, as long as they are intriguing or seductive. So these are the power points of every piece of writing.

And takeaway number three? Take everyday situations and weave them through your writing (or videos, if you are using videos to market your business). Because this gives readers an indication of what kind of person you are and it gives them something to relate to.

On a more practical note, it gives you material to write about. If you are brand new to business, you can use this technique to talk about what information you found useful and what was confusing. You can use this to share things you have learnt along the way (successes and failures), whether it is technical information or more esoteric mindset material. In any event, other people will be drawn to your honesty.

This is where you can create a feedback loop, and build relationships with people who read your posts, which is brilliant for building your business. This is where you can invite people to interact with you on your blog, to share their thoughts on your facebook page and even ask you questions. This process positions you as a leader, and regular interactive activity on your blog also helps to improve your ranking in organic search. Happy days.

Have an awesome one – Cheers

Zoe

From the time I can remember, I always loved music. In fact my earliest memory must be from when I was four years old, and I used to go to my maternal grandmother’s house every afternoon. She had a beautiful old piano, with a walnut cabinet and brass candelabra (which had gone by the wayside at some point in its history). No-one knew how old it was. Rumor had it that it was about 90 years old. It had been taken to my Nanna’s house on a bullock dray, and the journey must not have been without mishap, because there were a few scratches on the cabinet and one of the keys had a deep crack in it.
I loved that piano. I remember learning to play “Twinkle Twinkle” while sitting on Nanna’s lap. I learnt to start on the key with the scratch in it, so it was easy. And I would sit for hours, sometimes with my Nanna, and sometimes on my own, picking out songs. Eventually, I had proper lessons with a local lady called Mrs Vanderwolf. She was the best teacher. Always so calm and quiet. Learning to read music opened a whole new world to me, and I loved to sit in her music room with the afternoon sun streaming in, learning new pieces and enjoying the smells of her family dinner cooking wafting underneath the door.
The walnut piano was subjected to another move. My nanna gave it to me, and it became a fixture in my bedroom. When I sat at the piano and played, everything was good in my world. I was no Liberace, but that didn’t matter. I took every moment I could to do what I loved to my marrow. I always felt peaceful and centred after I had played, and I know that being able to retreat to the keyboard played a huge part in getting through my major school exams well.
As I got older, I started lessons with a teacher at my school, who was renowned for her teaching methods. She had been trained herself at Trinity College in London (very prestigeous), and back then, my parents paid an absolute fortune for me to have lessons with her.
She started the process by taking the music away from me (I couldn’t play from memory), because she told me I would never be a proper musician if I could not play from memory. She was probably right, I don’t know. But what I do know is that immediately, music stopped being fun, and started being stressful. I could not remember the music without the manuscript in front of me. So she used her own brand of discipline to “encourage” me to remember. This consisted of sharp raps over the knuckles with the edge of a steel ruler.
I’m no rocket scientist, but I am fairly sure that inflicting pain on someone is not terribly likely to help them relax and concentrate. And she kept saying to me, “you have to focus on your weaknesses as a priority”.
I tried, I really did. But the entire process had completely lost its gloss for me. It was mandatory for her students to perform publically, and to compete in eistedfodds from memory. I have terrible memories of sitting on the stage at one particular competition, paralyzed with fear and unable to even start because I could not remember the first note.
I dreaded my lessons, and even stopped practicing. As it became clear that my memory work had not improved one iota, she eventually told me that I was never going to be a good musician, and that I was wasting her “valuable time”. It was more than my fragile adolescent self esteem could take, and I was such a “pleaser” that I hated the thought of wasting her time.
So after ten years, I quit.
I did come back to it as an adult, and found my love for it again. And when I started my own teaching practice some years later, I had a very strong emphasis on fun in my classes. But that is not what this story is about.
As we grow up, we are constantly told that we have to work on our weaknesses and improve. And I must say, I have to disagree. Now, I don’t mean that if you struggle to understand maths, you should just give up and watch TV instead. Knowing basic maths is an important life skill, but complex algebra is not everyone’s thing, and most people would say that they did not enjoy learning it, because they could not relate it to any other part of their life.
I think it is true to say that our weaknesses are usually embodied in activities that we don’t particularly enjoy. You don’t have to be too smart to figure out that if you love something, you are more inclined to do a lot of it, and therefore with practice, you are more likely to master it at a higher level. When we are good at certain things, it is incredibly rewarding for us to do them. Great for our self esteem that we have mastered them, and for our ego that we can perform at a higher level. And the reverse is true of our weaknesses. We tend to avoid the activities we don’t enjoy, and are not good at.
I believe that when we try and focus on our weaknesses, we dilute our strengths, and rather than excel in one area, we become mediocre at everything.
As this relates to your business, what are the aspects of it you really enjoy, and feel you have a strength for? What are the bits your really don’t enjoy, and in fact avoid? I encourage you to sit down and appraise your business in the context of your own skill set, and when you plan and move forward, play to your strengths.
When you are first getting started, understand that you will need to have a grasp of all aspects of what this business entails before you can make this call. But it will become clear to you fairly quickly, if you really connect yourself to this process.
There are so many outsourcing solutions out there to pick up the slack and handle the aspects of your business you don’t enjoy, and struggle with. Engaging in a war with yourself in the name of “improving your weaknesses” is soul destroying. You will find yourself locked into a mindset that is punitive and counter productive. And all of a sudden, your business becomes a punishment, rather than a joy. This is a lifestyle business, if you choose to operate it that way. It is a place where you can explore your creativity, and put the skills you love and are good at into action every day to move you forward.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan

As many of you will be aware, Cameron and I started our entrepreneurial journey in a community newspaper, in a small country town called Maleny, in Queensland. The notion of owning a newspaper was driven very hard by Cameron (who has ink in his veins, I swear). The subject first came up five years earlier while we were on our honeymoon, driving through a gorgeous little town in New South Wales, called Bellingen. It was the most stunning countryside, lush and green, with a picturesque river running through it. As we were driving along, Cam said that it was his ultimate dream to own a newspaper in a country town just like Bellingen.
So flash forward to 1996, and we were visiting Cam’s brother, who had just bought a supermarket in Maleny. We had driven through Maleny, which is a ‘picture postcard’ beautiful town. It is surrounded by rolling, lush green hills, dotted with contented dairy cows. As we headed back down the mountain to our home on the coast, looking out over the Glass House Mountains, Cam said, “Imagine if we could buy the newspaper here”.
The idea kept bugging us (actually, it bugged Cam more than me, I was completely terrified at the very idea, I had no idea how to run a newspaper). So we spent some time making enquiries, and decided to make the owners of the local paper an offer.
We took the necessary bookwork to our accountant to complete a due diligence, and his verdict was not what we wanted to hear. As far as he was concerned, the price we were being asked to pay, was far more than what the figures indicated the business was worth. In fact, he thought it was not a good idea to move forward, unless we could significantly bring down the price.
We had our heart set on this business, and we asked him to go and negotiate with the owners on our behalf. So he did, and during the course of the meeting, he asked them why they had put such a high price on the business, when it clearly did not have the trading figures to support the asking price. And their reply was “because it has potential”.
He remained unconvinced, and made the comment that it was not the business which had the potential. We didn’t know what he meant by that, and at the time, we thought he was raining on our parade. We thought we could see exactly what they meant. The paper was almost like the Bible in town, everyone read it. It was in a growth area, with very little competition, as far as we could see, we would own the territory. So, despite the best advice we could get, we decided to go ahead with the business.
Within a month or so of taking over, the company which eventually went on to buy our business from us, set up in opposition and sent a troupe of advertising sales reps all over our territory. Scary stuff, given that our sales rep was me, and I had no prior experience, and had a 13 month old baby in tow while I was working most of the time (we couldn’t even afford child care at that point).
But we knew that if we were to compete, we had to be better. We had to build strong relationships with our advertisers. Offer them better value, and teach them how to make the most of their advertising budget.
As time went by, it became obvious that our work had paid off. Advertisers were not buying the opposition paper, and eventually, it got shut down. We committed ourselves to making constant and incremental changes and improvements to our product and services and expanded our business to include a tourism magazine which we published annually.
As the business grew, so did the challenges, and we had to continue to grow and change ourselves to meet them head on. We would never have made it if we didn’t. In 2006, we were approached by a large media company to buy our business (ironically, the same company which had set up in opposition to us ten years earlier). They made us an offer we couldn’t refuse, on the basis of “the potential of the business”, and we gladly stepped out, and eventually into the world of e-commerce.
But it got me thinking about potential. And when I saw the way the company ran our old business (and lost a lot of advertising revenue in the name of ’streamlining and efficiency’), it gave me a flash of insight about potential.
I realize now, that that our accountant was right. The business did not have the potential, but we did. And that is the same in every business.
So many people go into a business venture, and they think that their product, system, company, sponsor, training (or any other external factor) is going to be the key to their success. In reality, you hold the key. It is within you where the potential lies, and no-where else. There is a brilliant book by T. Harv Ecker called “The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind”, and in it he talks about the difference in self talk between the poor, the middle class and the very wealthy. And it looks something like this:
The poor think ” I wish that I could have success in my life”. The middle class think “I hope this works out for me”, and the very successful think “This is going to happen, because I will make it happen”.
You can see, quite different self talk going on here. So, what is your self talk? Making change and moving forward requires some serious and honest self analysis. How do you see yourself in the context of your business? Are you looking externally for solutions to move you forward, or do you recognize that you already have everything you need right now, to build the business and life of your dreams? When you take your focus off external factors, and start to own your beliefs and actions, and eventually the results you are getting (or not, as the case may be), you will see significant changes start to take place. The nature of those changes will be completely up to you.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan

This tribute is a little late, I realize, but it has taken me this long to reconcile with the news that Jim Rohn has died. He passed away on December 5, 2009, and to be honest, I have been in shock since I heard. To me, he really seemed to be ten foot tall and ‘bullet proof’.
For those of you who are not familiar with Jim Rohn, he has widely been acknowledged as one of (if not the) greatest business philosophers and coaches of our time.
My first introduction to Jim Rohn was in 1997, when Cam bought a set of (what I considered to be horribly expensive) cassettes, with recordings of Jim Rohn teaching on them. At the time, I diligently listened to the cassettes (begrudgingly would be a better description – I could not see how they were going to make my life any better). Cam, (who you may have already guessed, was a far more open and positive minded person than me) also bought The Seasons of Life. I read through it, again, not convinced that simply reading a book could change my life (and therein lies part of the reason why it doesn’t – but more of that later).
I realize, in hindsight, that I was simply not ready to hear what Mr Rohn had to say. For me, it was too confronting. To take his words on board would mean that I would have to look in the mirror and ask myself how I was going to live the life of my dreams, rather than relying on someone else to make my dream life happen.
About a year ago, I dragged out the The Seasons of Life and read it again. And after many demanding and stressful years of business under my belt, it actually made more sense to me. I now had real life experiences to relate these teachings to. Many of the philosophies that Jim described in that book suddenly spoke to me in a way that they had not before. It made me (uncomfortably) aware, that in the early days, I honestly thought I knew it all, that I had all the answers. Now, the more I learn, the more I realize I know nothing.
Some of the philosophies that Jim held dear, I ignored, to my own detriment, I now understand. But if you will indulge me, I’d like to share some of them with you now. Perhaps you will see (sooner rather than later), the importance of observing these philosophies and incorporating them into your own lives.
So here goes…
“The ultimate expression of life is not a paycheck.
The ultimate expression of life is not a Mercedes.
The ultimate expression of life is not a million dollars, or a bank account or a home.
Here is the question that we must ask ourselves constantly; “What for me would be a good life?” And you have to keep going over and over the list you make. A list including things such as spirituality, economics, health, relationships and recreation”. For you – what would constitute a good life?
For Jim Rohn, number one on the list was productivity. And I have to agree with him. “If you are not producing, you will not be happy. The game of life is not rest. We must rest, but only long enough to gather strength to get back to productivity.”
We were not meant to sit around, idle, with nothing to do, or give or share. Every day, when our feet hit the ground, we must have a purpose.
The second, was good friends (and I apologize profusely here to my good friends, who basically did not give up on me while I was too busy “being busy” to nuture our friendship).
According to Jim Rohn, “Friendship is probably the greatest support system in the world…Friends are those wonderful people who know all about you, and still like you.”
Third is your culture. “Your language, your music, the ceremonies, the traditions, the dress. All of that is so vitally important that you must keep it alive. In fact it is the uniqueness of all of us that when blended together brings vitality, energy, power, influence, uniqueness and rightness to the world”.
Next is your spirituality.
“It helps to form the foundation of the family that builds the nation…Don’t be careless about the spiritual part of your nature, it’s what makes us who we are.”
This is possibly a little unexpected, but the next on Jim Rohn’s list is this:
“Don’t miss the game
Don’t miss the performance
Don’t miss the movie
Don’t miss the dance
Don’t miss the show
Go to everything you possibly can. Experience everything you possibly can. Live a vital life. If you live well, you earn well. There will be something unique and magical about you if you live well. It will infuse not only your personal life, but your business life. And it will give you a vitality that nothing else can”.
And last are your family and inner circle. “Invest in them and they will invest in you. Inspire them and they will inspire you.”
And so to a point I made earlier (and it has taken me this long to understand the power of this concept). You must be ready to take on new ideas, concepts and paradigm shifts to create significant change in your life. You cannot pay lip service to this concept, and expect the magic of this information alone to transform your life. Just plowing through the personal development books will not cut it.
You will be your own agent of change. The books you read, the training you undertake and the “top earners” you listen to, will only serve to give you some tools and strategies to move forward. But none of this will have any impact on you, until you can look in the mirror, and believe to your marrow, that you will create the change you want to experience. Everything you need, to have whatever you want in your life, you already have.
If you are not familiar with Jim Rohn’s teachings, make it a priority to read his books or listen to his recordings. He was a rare and wise soul, and he has left the world a richer place for his having been here. I think we can all aspire to do the same.
R.I.P Jim Rohn.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan

It is a Friday night as I write this post, and I have had a pretty full throttle day on the phone to people who have recently joined the business.
These are people who have made the decision to join after being in our system for months. By the way, this is a little testament to the power of an automated information driven system – when the time is right for the right people, they will make a firm decision and join, with or without your specific input.
But I digress (you must be used to this by now . I had all kinds of thoughts about writing a post about SEO techniques (we all need to learn them, right?), but I can’t stretch my head around that right now, it is Friday after all. And it occurred to me, that the posts that I get the best feedback from, are those that are about mindset. This is the information that people seem to tap into the most (as a little aside, I love to hear your thoughts and comments, and I would love you to post them in the comments section of our blog for other people to enjoy as well. You just click on the link at the bottom of each email to see where you can leave your comments).
I’m not sure why it is the case that people relate to mindset information the most. Perhaps of all the skills we need to master to become fully fledged, financially viable entrepreneurs, this is the most mysterious and esoteric. I mean, we can all stand in front of the mirror every night affirming that we are “rich and successful and attractive” until we are blue in the face. But what is the ingredient that gives this affirmation meaning? What is it that breathes life into this statement so that we start to see evidence that we are indeed all of these things?
I have given this an enormous amount of thought. Why do some people fly, and others flop? Why do some people, regardless of what they say to themselves and what they do, never seem to get out of the gate, while others make their success (and all the material trappings that come with it) seem effortless?
And I have lots of thoughts about why this might be the case. I suppose the most obvious place to start would be with your upbringing. And specifically your “parent tapes”. So what are parent tapes? These are the beliefs that we take on over the course of our upbringing, from our parents. And they are as varied and unique as each of us. But, there are some common themes that people bring into adulthood with them, that I believe will help shape your experience of the world.
Now, I base my thoughts on my University studies in Behavioural Science, my work in child protection, and my experiences in business.
The first is around your own ability. Unfortunately, there are many parents out there, who instill in their children a lack of belief in their own ability to excel in the world. And the sort of talk that plants this seed of belief sounds like this:
“You are so lazy”
“You never finish anything”
“Why can’t you concentrate?”
It’s a shame you aren’t better at X”
“You’ll never be good at X because I wasn’t”
etc etc.
Very damaging stuff. And parents aren’t the only ones who are guilty of making these comments to children. Teachers can also do some serious damage with poorly chosen comments. I have a particular memory of a primary school teacher referring to me as “ten tonne Tanya”, and a high school teacher questioning whether an essay I had put a lot of effort into was “All your own work”. Gee, thanks.
As adults, we tend to take on these beliefs and opinions as truth. And through our own thoughts, decisions and actions make them true. Now, here is the beautiful thing about being an adult living in a free and democratic society: We can change our minds about this at any time we like.
That’s right.
We do not have to take on what anyone else says or thinks about us. In fact, if you are at all concerned about what other people think of you, you have a lot of work to do on your level of self belief. Trying to keep other people happy is a certain recipe for failure. Trust me
Neither do we have to create a “story” around what other people think, or why they might harbor the beliefs that they do. It simply dosn’t matter. You are in control of your own thoughts and actions. You don’t have to justify why someone else thinks or behaves the way they do. You can choose to let go of any belief that is not serving you right now. And this is what you must strive to do. Your development as an entrepreneur depends on it.
The second (extremely important) is around your attitudes to money. Yep, I said it. MONEY. Now, for some people, this is a particularly dirty word, depending on the types of messages you were given about money as you were growing up.
So many people are brought up to believe that wanting more money is greedy and wrong. Others are led to believe that people with money are bad, and that they only got to achieve their wealth by exploiting others.
At the same time, there is a great deal of envy towards people with money. As a culture, don’t we LOVE to see a wealthy person come a gutser? (think Tiger Woods).
I often hear people talking about their income goals, and whenever I hear someone say “I’m not motivated by money” I feel compelled to respond with “That’s great, because you will never have any, I’m not really sure why you are going into business”.
These are beliefs that you need to identify and LOSE sooner rather than later, if you intend to become an entrepreneur. This type of introspection can be painful (actually, it usually is painful, as it often brings to the surface all sorts of demons).
But as I see it, the successful entrepreneurs are people who have identified and conquered these beliefs as a matter of priority. They are people who are able to identify their own particular skills, strengths and successes (and not necessarily just in business – in their career, in sport, or as a parent or spouse) and transpose them across to their business life.
They are people who are resourceful, independant and who search for the solutions, rather than allowing themselves to get bogged in the problem. They do not dwell on what is going wrong, but rather, they focus on their successes.
And finally, I think that part of the reason why some people just never make it in business, is because they don’t really know what they want. That will probably sound like a ridiculous thing to say, but think about it for a moment. To say “I want to make $500,000 per year” all sounds pretty fabulous. But at the end of the day, money is just paper. You must dig deeper. What does the money represent to you? What choices does it give you? You must take the time to really nail down what you want from your life, and then fit in how the money will enable you to realize this.
It might be to build your dream home, it might be to spend more time with your children. It may be to donate money to your favorite charity, it might be to own 100 pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. What is vital here, is that you are honest (and this will come back to your beliefs about money) don’t just come up with what you think you should want to do with your money. Or you won’t have a genuine passion for it.
Be specific. And for goodness sake write it down. Remember that using your hands stimulates the creative centre of your brain, so immediately, your unconscious mind will go to work to find ways to make things happen.
Remember, this is an evolutionary process. It won’t happen overnight. But stay focused, be consistent, and have faith in your own ability to have, and be, and create whatever you want in your life.
Make today a great one.
Cheers,
Tan
PS And remember, I love to hear your thoughts and feedback, so don’t be shy, post them on our blog for everyone to enjoy.

Alright, I admit that this might seem like a particularly stupid question. But you would be surprised at how casual too many people are when it comes to setting up their home based business. And I am not referring to their diligence when it comes to goal setting, reading mindset books, or tapping into the training.
I’m talking about the work that must be done before you even get to that stage.
It really is critical that you are properly set up from the very first. Just because you work an online business from home, it doesn’t mean that the you are exempt from the same rules that apply to brick and mortar businesses. You can’t hide online.
Now, I make this point for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you are running a legitimate business, and for taxation and compliance purposes, it is important that you dot the ‘i”s and cross the ‘t”s. Pain in the neck though it is, the set up administration must be done for you to operate your business legally (can you say “random audit”?).
Secondly, from a psychological perspective, if you don’t make the commitment to set yourself up properly from the first, if you are “dabbling”, or just “having a bit of a go to see what happens”, I promise you, you will not make a cent from your business, and you will waste a lot of time, energy and money to figure this out. Being set up as you intend to go on is a critical element of a sound business strategy.
A profitable business is a marathon. It is a long term commitment. The network marketing industry does a very good job of facilitating the notion that you can expect to see results and profits immediately after purchasing the product and signing on the dotted line.
Now, this is not a bald faced lie, because some people (very, very few I’ll add) do run their businesses hard and smart straight up, and enjoy incredible results. But for the average person coming into business for the first time, this is highly unlikely to be the case. Tempering your expectations and having a realistic understanding of what you are getting involved with, and what your commitment is to the process is also important.
So, where to begin?
I can speak about what this process looks like for someone in Australia, the general principles will be the same wherever you are, but you will need to seek specific advice from your own local tax professional or accountant, in the context of your local business laws, and existing financial and employment circumstances.
The first thing you will want to do is set up a company structure to run your business through. We personally use a Trust, which provides us with protection from personal liability (very important, we live in a highly litigious society, unfortunately). Check with your own accountant regarding what would be the most appropriate structure for you. Most accountants are very helpful regarding the steps you need to take, and the information you will need to supply to get this going.
The next thing you will need to do is set up a business bank account in the name of your newly formed company. You must keep your business and personal finances separate.
Check with your own banking institution regarding products that will be appropriate for you. Evaluate business banking facilities that have a credit card attached, and think about whether they have a rewards program that includes Frequent Flyer points.
If you are working your business Internationally, you will be wanting to attend conferences and company events. Having a Frequent Flyer rewards program can help you with the cost of your air tickets, or may enable you to upgrade on long haul flights.
When you establish a company structure and business bank account, you will need to apply for an ABN (Australian Business Number). You can do this fairly simply by logging on to www.ato.com
The first reason why you will need an ABN, is to comply with Government regulations for all business owners. The second reason is for the purposes of verifying an online merchant account.
As you can imagine, money laundering is an illegal practice that is rampant online, and merchant facilities such as Paypal are legally required to make sure that their account holders are not using accounts for this purpose. When you set up a business account with Paypal (or any other merchant facility), you will be asked to supply your business bank account details as well as your ABN. Failure to do this can lead to your funds being frozen. This is obviously not something that you want to have happen.
Next, you will want to make sure that you have an economical communication plan in place. It is a good idea to establish a phone line just for your business (nothing is more unprofessional than having your five year old pick up the phone to a business prospect). If you have a separate phone and broad band account in your business name, you will be able to run these expenses through your business.
It is possible to claim a percentage of your home power bill on your business tax return, but before you go ahead and put this in place – check with your accountant. Be aware that if you sell your home at any point in the future, the tax office will put up their hand to take a chunk of capital gains tax on the sale. It may not be worth your while to run utilities through your business if you own your home.
You will need to also seek advice from your accountant about the necessity for you to submit a quarterly BAS (Business Activity Statement) to the ATO. Your own particular circumstances will be the deciding factor for this decision.
Keeping an accurate set of books on your business is mandatory. It does not need to be overly complex, and there are some very good bookkeeping programs available to make this task simpler. Quick Books is a great program that is very user friendly, and if you are a Mac user, MYOB is probably the best call.
This is one area though, that I would suggest you outsource. It can be very time consuming, and it is not a sales generating activity, so unless you are experienced at bookkeeping, and can input and reconcile your own data quickly and with a minimum of fuss, I would definitely be outsourcing it. Your primary focus in your business should always be on the activities that generate leads, and convert sales. ALWAYS.
Either way, you will need to keep all tax invoices, tax receipts, and bank and credit card statements together in chronological order, so that it is easy for whoever does your books to work through them quickly and methodically. Otherwise it will cost you a fortune in bookkeeping fees, or wasteful hours of your own time.
So, that is a quick guide to some of the issues you will want to be working on and settling straight up, before you get too immersed in your training and marketing. It will give you a clean slate to move forward with, and allow you to get on with the business of making money.
Make today a great one.
Tanya