Sunday, December 7, 2008

Rule #1: Invest in Yourself

By Ian Pelham

By far the most important rule in Internet Marketing, and one that you MUST remember, is that you should always "Invest in Yourself!"

The chances are very good that you will have heard this saying repeated over and over again and yet you probably still don't have the first clue what this means. Let me explain.

An internet business doesn't exist in a world of bricks and mortar, only in the virtual world of the internet, and in the heart and mind of its owner.

Essentially, your internet business consists of just one major component. YOU. You are your internet business.

If you had a real world business you could make improvements to the building or to the landscaping and people would see that improvements had been made and be drawn in to see what kind of improvements had been made in the merchandise that was being offered.

With an online business you can change the look of your website but to make any real impact on your internet business you need to make improvements to yourself. You need to invest in yourself. It's not easy but you can't improve your internet business unless you improve yourself first.

How do you invest in yourself? It's simple. You educate yourself about new marketing methods, new technologies that could benefit your business, etc. In short, you need more knowledge. The more knowledge you gain, the more your business will grow in response.

If you devote only one single hour a day to reading newsletters or articles that pertain to your business, it will add up to a lot of hours every month and you will be investing in yourself.

Enrol in a couple of courses, listen to teleseminars and webinars. These are the kinds of things that allow you to invest in yourself most effectively. This is the most important thing in online marketing.

The next natural step is the principle of 'Abundance Thinking'.

Abundance Thinking? What the heck is that? This refers to one of two possible modes of thought. In order to clarify this I will explain the second mode first. 'Limited Supply' thinking is where you believe there is a finite amount of business out there. This is a bad model because it induces panic and the mindset that motivates you to grab what you can at the expense of others.

Limited Supply thinking may earn you a living, perhaps even a decent one, but it won't allow you to make the most money you possibly can. It's the complete opposite of Abundance Thinking.

Abundance thinking is the belief that there is enough business to go around and that we can all make a good living by giving away referrals, ideas and assistance to help others...including to our competitors.

Abundance thinking is the belief that we are all stronger together than we are separately and that by helping one another we each become stronger individually. This principle when applied to internet marketing is usually the more productive of the two schools of thought.

Limited-supply thinking means that you hold on as tightly as you can to what you have. You do not share anything with anybody. What is yours is yours. Often time decisions are made by people who apply limited-supply thinking based upon what the competition is doing. Limited-supply thinking is basically a defensive position.

Abundance thinking is a proactive, offensive method. It concentrates on building good relationships with customers, suppliers, even competitors. It is the mark of a well adjusted, mature, competent and successful person.

Abundance Thinking allows you to share effectively with others whilst enabling you to make the most of the opportunities you have.

Interestingly, when people see this principle working successfully, they are inclined to try it themselves, and are also more inclined to do business with you since they consider you more trustworthy.

Joint ventures will develop more readily once you adopt an Abundance mentality, and you will see for yourself that there is more success in Abundance Thinking than in Limited Supply thinking.

About the Author:

No comments:

Add to Technorati Favorites
Custom Search