Ben Means Business

I came across an incredibly inspiring quote today and wanted to share it with you. It really made me think about what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. One thing that is undoubtedly clear is that success as an entrepreneur is not informational or educational; It is psychological. This quote, by Mark Caine, reminded me of just how much that is true. (See quote below)

“The successful always has a number of projects planned, to which he looks forward. Anyone of them could change the course of his life overnight.”
–Mark Caine

After reading that quote I began to think of my own thought processes and how I’ve moved from project to project always seeming to have a “next big thing” brewing. I then thought about how valuable that mindset was to me, and to every entrepreneur (or aspiring entrepreneur) because of the inevitability of failure. However, as long as we always have that project that we are looking forward to, that ace in the hole, that entrepreneurial ambition, we can keep moving toward success without being sidelined by doubt and self-pity.

Because believe me, the doubt will come….right along with the doubters(and right after the failures). But in order to be successful we must maintain the right mindset. So I’ll leave you with two scriptures from the Bible that speak to the importance of maintaining the right mentality. The first is found in Proverbs 4:23, it reads:

“Guard your heart with all dilligence. For out of it flows the issues of life.”

(The word “heart” in this scripture refers to your mind) You must protect the way of thinking that fuels your ambition. It controls your destiny but can be destroyed by circumstances and negativity.

The second scripture is found in Proverbs 23:7, it reads:

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

A popular quote tells us that we are what we eat. However, the real authority, tells us the truth of the matter; This truth is that “We are what we think.”

So are you in a successful state of mind?

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Yesterday I came across yet another offer by an e-marketing “guru” claiming to have the “secret” to making money online. There was, however, something different about his approach. From the onset of the video you could tell that this wasn’t the classic Internet sales pitch. This guy, by the name of Frank Kern, did a very good job of separating himself from the tons of other e-marketing programs out there. Please be advised that I am in no way endorsing his product, but I do want to use his video to highlight a few things that may help us all make more money online…and not necessarily by what Mr. Kern says but by what he actually  does in he video (See Video Here).

Ok, the first thing that I noticed in his video is that the main purpose of the video was not to sell a product or service. It was to brand himself so that he could sell you a product later. Did he do a good job of branding himself? I would say, yes. For instance, the video starts off with this long-haired blond guy sitting in “his” beachfront home, midday, playing a pretty cool looking guitar. He is also wearing what amounts to surfer gear. What is the message here? The message is that “I’m a regular, fun-loving guy, living the life that most people only dream of.” Whether this is his actual lifestyle or not doesn’t matter, you now know what he wants you to know.

Secondly, I noticed that the first words out of his mouth are not about what he’s selling. Instead, he begins to tell you this story about how he got the guitar. Why? Maybe so that he could bring up his personal relationship with popular marketing guru John Carlton. And even more because he wanted to tell you about how Mr. Carlton had given him the “marketing secrets” that he is later going to sell to you.

Thirdly, you’ll notice that the video and web page are very simple but of very high quality. This was not a Youtube production. This was also not happenstance. The display was meant to be simplistic enough that it directed your attention to the 2 things that he wanted you to see (the video and the email opt-in) but quality enough to let you know that he knows some things that the average person doesn’t.

There are tons of other things that I learned from the video but I don’t want to make this a super long advertisement for Mr. Kern’s product. What I did want, however, was to present an example of what I thought was a nicely done marketing video (considering his target market) just in case you might pick up a thing or two(or even want to use Mr. Kern’s product as a resource).

I am not an affiliate of Mr. Kern’s product but I picked up a few tactics from watching Mr. Kern’s video and thought that you would too. The tactics, however, have nothing to do with the “3 step system” that he is claiming to teach in the video. That was just filler information. It was of no value to you at all. It was simply something to say while he marketed himself to you. Indirect marketing at it’s finest and he did it well. So kudos to him…but more importantly it gives us ideas of things that we could do to make our own campaigns better.

Leave your comments. I am interested to hear about the things that you pick up from the video.

John Igrisano of The Freestyle Entrepreneur wrote a pretty interesting post about How to Survive during Uncertain Economic Times. In this article, John gives some really good tips on how to stay float during times of economic distress. The first of John’s tips reads:

“Devote two extra hours a day to business. Hard work is often the most important ingredient for success.  When times get tough, that’s the time to hunker down and focus extra effort on business.  Look at the difference two additional hours a day can make.  If you come in at seven rather than eight and stay until six rather than five, that adds up to ten more hours a week, 42 hours a month, or an additional 13 weeks a year (more than a full quarter).  You’ll be amazed at how devoting more time to the business can help improve productivity and help keep your business stable doing unstable times.”

While I agree that hard work is essential to helping your business persevere, I don’t necessarily agree that “more time” is the answer. It would all depend on what you would actually spend that time doing. All tasks are not meaningful ones. If you were able to come up with some tactic or strategy that would cause a major change or that would give you and edge over your competition, by all means, work as many hours as necessary to make that happen; but, if all you can think to do is spend 2 more hours doing what you’ve been doing, I would consider that an exercise in futility.

Again, this would definitely depend on situation, industry, specific tasks, etc…..I just am never  a fan of advising people to spend more “time”. My experience has been that extra time, if not for a specifically defined function, does not usually result in more productivity. But that’s just one man’s experience. What has been your experience with this?

Check out the rest of John’s post, there are some really helpful tidbits there. Hope you enjoy!

A few days ago I wrote a post entitled Is Your Internet Income Reliable. In that post, I submitted the theory that Internet businesses, like many other non-traditional business models, may not be as reliable as you think. My basis for this statement was simply that non-traditional business models are frequently destroyed by regulations from industry authorities (or governmental authorities) that prevent them from being profitable.

I am not saying that this will be the case with internet businesses. I was simply warning internet entrepreneurs to flip their internet income into a more stable/proven business model. many of the top internet entrepreneurs already do this. Once they reach a certain status, their websites are usually no longer the bread and butter of their operation.

Anyway, the point of this post was to bring your attention to a new development by AT&T and Time Warner which would allow them to “meter” Internet service much like electricity companies do our light bills. Now I am sure you aware that when things like this begin to happen that the rest of the industry will follow suit. Not only that, but they will begin to push the envelope more and more and the standard will be raised each time.

So how would changes like this effect Internet entrepreneurs 5 years down the road?  You have to consider the ripple effect (IE…oil prices and the cost of anything unrelated to oil). I’m not saying your Internet business is doomed(I participate online quite a bit too), I’m just trying to get you to be sure that you are prepared to adapt or abandon if the time comes. Because knowing when to move on from a business is great but being prepared to move on is genius!