How to Succeed at Internet Marketing: The Learning Curve!

“If it sounds too good to be true…”

Spend any amount of time looking for ways to make money on the Internet, and you will come across many people happy to help you out – out of your money, that is!

Maybe you weren’t even actively looking for an online business opportunity…but a savvy Internet marketing guru with a clever email subject line popped into your inbox!

So, you decided, “What the heck, I’ll check it out!”

Usually it begins with a promise. Yes, in just a few short hours per week you are going to make loads of money, millions even! And they have already done most of the work for you!

While they worked on rebuilding, and selling, the Brooklyn Bridge!

Easy, right?

Plugin and play! Set it and forget it!

Just like those chicken roasters they sell on TV infomercials! [Now, just off to the side let's have an idiot card telling everyone to say "Ooooh-aaaah!" and then clap!]

Yup! They know precisely what buttons to push and when; and, it’s all scripted to one end, to gain access to your wallet.

They are very good at it, too!

Hopefully, somewhere in the back of your mind, you hear your parent’s or grandparent’s voice echoing off in the distance:

“If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.”

Folks, I don’t mean to sound cynical, mocking or facetious here. Well, maybe a little!?

The fact of the matter is…there are no “get rich quick” formulas in Internet marketing!

The whole notion of getting rich in a matter of days, weeks, or even months in Internet marketing is one of the late great snake oil sales campaigns!

BTW, I also have swamp land on the North Face of the South Slope of the Grand Canyon…and you too can own this beach front property just a few paces from the Caribbean…or was it the Pacific! Yeah, that’s the ticket! Next to the British Army gun emplacements next to the Belize National Airport!

Sure, there are instances in which a person has accomplished a great deal and done quite well in a matter of a few months. That individual usually has a history in sales, marketing, management, and/or entrepreneurial endeavors…but it certainly did not happen overnight!

In fact, most overnight success, and Hollywood and the music industries are great for building up this mythology, takes years. Years to gain overnight stardom, overnight riches, overnight success.

Years!

I have been a student of marketing for over 30 years. A student! I have built businesses and worked in sales, marketing, and management for some amazing companies, including my own, and for some amazingly successful entrepreneurs.

I have been blessed to see some of the best sales, marketing (in Internet marketing and also traditional brick and mortar marketers), self-improvement, and personal development gurus in the world speak, in person.

While we hear of the tremendous financial success many of these “gurus” have now, each and every one of them went through a learning curve…and it was hard work.

Eben Pagan of Altitude speaks of living in a tiny trailer, writing his first ebook in his “next-to-nothings.” Close your eyes you can see him sitting in front of his computer monitor in his skivvies writing all night.

Eben picturing what he was going to become.

Frank Kern of Mass Control 2.0 speaks of going to door to door in a black suit, in the middle of a Macon, Georgia summer, selling credit card vending machines…and that’s after burying a dog collar containment business he ran out of the back of a used car office!

Yet, Frank had this belief he could be something more, he knew it!

Tellman Knudson of The List Building Club, a man currently running across the country barefoot for homeless children, had already overcome significant medical issues as a child, tried a few other business ventures, including hypnosis, and failed. Tellman found himself at the end of his rope without enough money to buy lunch one day. Humiliated, he wrote an IOU to the diner for the cost of his lunch while the eyes of the people he saw every day were upon him. The dreaded double beep, he called it…rejection and humiliation!

In spite of the terrible humiliation…or because of it…he made it! Tellman envisioned something better, something great!

Jeff Herring, The Article Guy, was once homeless on Christmas Eve. Living in a hotel lobby, Jeff had nowhere to go and, seemingly, nowhere to turn.

Even while homeless, Jeff had a belief he could and would be something more, something greater!

Mike Geary, of The Truth About Abs, was “not in a good place financially,” working a regular 9-5 job as a scientist in the environmental field, trained people every evening and then went home to work on the computer until 4 in the morning…day after day, month after month, for several years before he made it…”overnight!”

True to his nature as an athlete, and as a scientist, Mike Geary knew he could achieve something great, he had the formula, it just took a concerted effort and belief!

Tony Robbins was a 20 year old kid with a beat up car, some stories have him living in it for a time, barely a penny to his name, going from appointment to appointment, speaking to business people with more experience and more money.

Yet instead of saying I can’t, it’s too hard or I don’t have the experience, Tony Robbins made it work!

I can go on…but you get the idea…I hope!

Every one of the above mentioned individuals had one quality. Every one of them believed above all else in their ability and that all things are indeed possible to those who believe!

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve!” Napoleon Hill

The greatest service I can do for you is dispel the myth of overnight riches! The 4-Hour Workweek is probably the most misunderstood and misinterpreted work of the past few decades. Misunderstood, because the title has morphed into the entire message! The 80/20 Principle has also caused the same sort of issues, being widely misquoted and misunderstood!

Significantly, both of these books are one writer’s OPINION!

Interestingly, people often read a work and, because it is in print, has been published, and has achieved a certain amount of notoriety, it is considered fact. It has always amazed me how the written word can on one hand be relegated to the back burner by an entire generation, the video generation, and yet still hold immense power and authority.

Truly a paradox…a conundrum!

To have true and lasting success as an internet marketer, you have to become a student of the craft. To succeed online you must become comfortable with the sales process, marketing (both offline and Internet marketing), and with business building. After all, that’s what we are doing…right? We are building a business as entrepreneurs…as Internet marketing entrepreneurs.

Who do you believe and believe in? Are there reputable programs available for someone interested in making money online?

Yes, there are reputable programs out there, a few by the individuals noted above. Interestingly, the better programs available aren’t going to do all the work for you. And, the best Internet marketing programs aren’t going to do much of anything at all for you!

Why?

Well, there’s something to be said and much to be gained by taking the time to do it yourself! If you are serious about making money online, whether in the Internet marketing niche itself or in any one of the myriad of other niche marketing possibilities available to you, willing to take all the necessary steps, and don’t try to take shortcuts around the learning curve…you will prosper!

Take time to learn the real behind the scenes stories of how some of the successful internet marketers got to where they are today. They will inspire you!

Then, once you understand some of what it takes, it is time for implementation!

We will cover implementation in the next article! It is in combining education and implemetation that will lead you to prosperity in Internet marketing!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

PS, For more on the subject of success online and in life, just click this link and go to The John Zajaros Blog!

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I was talking to friend at StomperNet and explaining how after coming off a catastrophic illness, and all that comes with it, it is difficult to shift from the scarcity mode and mindset back to an entrepreneurial way of thinking. In other words, it’s the difference between a Rich Dad and Poor Dad outlook!

The real issue is not whether or not something is affordable, it is how we perceive opportunity and whether we think in terms of what is possible. I explore the subject of belief, mindset, and the culture of cautious optimism…as well as other success in life topics at my personal blog. I hope you will visit it and comment on the articles.

For another perspective on the meaning of life, how to succeed in business, and the power of belief, just click this link! After you watch the video, of course!

Thanks!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

PS, If you want to take a look at an amazing program, probably the best on the Internet for understanding and building an effective Internet business…regardless of niche…just click here!

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I just thought I would share a moment with you. The sun was setting, it is mid-October and the clouds were beautiful, purple and billowing. I live not too far from the spot where the video I shot (below) was taken and I love walking there.

After overcoming a life-threatening and life-altering illness, one that put me in the hospital for months from December of 2004 until April/May of 2008, it is as if my eyes are seeing things for the first time, that I am once again experiencing life.

I am beginning to see the possibilities in life again, the things that make my heart beat a bit faster, and the things that don’t necessarily mean success as much as they simply make life a bit more fun. I have experienced all the trappings of success, have been known as a “success” for much of my life. To have had it all vanish, all the trappings, while fighting for my life was disconcerting but I always knew, if I could just get through to the other side, I would have it all again.

Interestingly, having made it through catastrophic illness, having beat back the most dreaded of diseases and lived to start again, my perspective has been forever altered. The “things” I once thought important are no longer so and the “trappings” of success are now viewed for what they are, impermanent and easily replaceable. The things of value, the things that really matter, friends, family, my faith in people, my faith in Something Greater have all been restored, renewed, or significantly strengthened.

Success no longer has the same meaning…but success still has the same definition!

Figure that one out for yourself….

By definition, success is a progression, an improvement in your overall quality of life on daily basis. Tony Robbins talks about CANI! CANI! is “consistent and never ending improvement.” Tony Robbins talks about the improvement in the quality of your life on a daily basis, incrementally, continually, and consistently. Early Nightingale and Napoleon Hill talk about progression toward a worthwhile goal or ideal. Interestingly, every great thinker has equated success with progress, a progression, a journey that includes never ending improvement.

If that is the definition of success…I am a success!

Every day of my life has become a success, a mural of sorts, and I thought I would share just a moment of it…me and my little dog, TuffGuy…my Higher Power is the painter, my life the canvas!

The video below will be up around the web, on my personal blog, The John Zajaros Blog, and elsewhere. It’s just a moment, a glimpse, and Martin Scorsese has nothing to worry about.

I challenge you to find your own personal place or places, your space if you will, that spot or those spots you can retreat to, that inspire you, not only your entrepreneurial spirit, if you have that sort of wish for your life, but personally and spiritually. Because those personal places are the best places to take a step back and renew, recharge, and refresh the Spirit before facing the ups and the downs life invariably throws at us daily…on our journey, our progression, our never ending quest!

This has just been a moment of personal reflection:

The Quest Revealed!

As stated, the most significant and meaningful trappings of success are no longer the same for me. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t get excited about a new Hunter sailboat, almost purchased a while back, or a comfortable houseboat for Connie and I to retire on. TuffGuy, Bart, kids, and whomever else wants to come along with us, as well! Well, maybe? But the landscape has changed, the Master Gardener has done a real job on me, I no longer yield the same produce and life on the other side of H#ll is indeed Heaven!

We are tested throughout our lives but one thing I know with absolute certainty…Tony Robbins is right! CANI! is the real “secret” to success. Only through constant, consistent, and never ending improvement, never quitting no matter what the odds, will you prevail.

Not only will you prevail, life will be amazing!

But you must demonstrate:

Faith– in yourself, your loved ones, your friends, your Higher Power (in what ever form you see it) and, most importantly, your Self!
Hope– above all, hope! Without hope, when things are their blackest, you will falter! You must have HOPE!
Determination– there were times when the only thing that kept me going was determination, that refusal to quit regardless of what everyone and everything was saying!
Persistence– just a bit different from determination, a one-two punch of sorts. Determination is the mindset, persistence is the implementation!
Goals– It is not enough to want something, you must have concrete goals and a plan of action. Without goals you are truly a ship without a rudder, blowing this way and that!
Burning Desire– this may also be called “The One Thing!” It is not enough to have goals, it isn’t even enough to have a plan of action, you must want it, whatever “it” is, with all your heart! You must want it in the pit of your stomach, it must burn within you like nothing else…it must make your soul ache!

IF you are able to define, clearly and concisely, what your “One Thing” is, write it out, burn it into the very fabric of your being, and then have complete faith in the reality that it will be yours, put the plan into action and improve upon it in some way each and every day, constantly and consistently, you will prevail!

In the words of one of the greatest statesmen to ever walk the Earth, “Never, Never, Never, Never Quit!” And you will prevail!

John Zajaros
216-712-6526 (home/business)
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com

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The question I asked myself, and the question you need to ask yourself is, where do you want to be 5 years from now?

Do you want to be working a job you hate the rest of your life or do you want to have an amazing life, one you can only glimpse a small part of now?

Either way, 5 years from now you are going to be alive and breathing, the question is do you want to pay a higher price now and have something amazing? Or do you want to be where you are today…5 years from now and for the rest of your life?

Before I started my businesses a very smart man who is my mentor asked me some questions when I said I was 53 and was questioning whether I could spend the time to build something at my age, and in my sate of health.

He said and asked me this:

“Let’s say it takes 5 years to build a million dollar a year business or multi-million dollar a year business. How old will you be?”

I said, “58!”

Then he asked, “How old will you be if you do nothing?”

I said, “58!”

He said, “So, in either case 5 years from now you will be 58, is that right?”

I said, “Yes!”

He said, “Since in either case you will be 58, and exactly the same amount of time will have passed, 5 years, where would you rather be? Where you are now? Or, where you envision being if you dare to be great?”

I said, “Where I envision myself being, of course!”

He said, “Well then, are you willing to pay the price for 5 years? Or, are you willing to pay for not making the right decision for the rest of your life? Because either way, you will be the same age 5 years from now, the real question is….How do you want to live the rest of your life? Do you want to live the rest of your life as you are today? Or, do you want to live the rest of your life as the owner of a million dollar plus per year business, because 5 years from now you are either going to be who your are today or who you envision becoming? Do you want to spend the rest of your life being unable to provide for yourself and your family, without struggle and doing something you hate? Or do you envision providing for yourself, your wife, your children, and your childrens’ children in a way you can only begin to image?”

I said, “Where do I sign?”

You see, you must think long term and you must get out of your comfort zone! It is easier to be broke, as painful as that is, than to step outside yourself and do something amazing! It is more difficult to step outside yourself and do what most people will not, dare to be great! Fewer still will put in the effort to be great! Even fewer still will take a chance and run the risk of failure…to be great! And that’s why only 1% or 3% or at most 5% are ever great!

Fear of failure and an unwillingness to get out of your comfort zone!

I once had a regional manager working for me, Steve Wilson (name changed), I will never forget Steve. Steve was 10 years my senior at the time and wise beyond his years, he knew how to be successful. I was 29 and his boss but he was the teacher that day. I owe him everything. Steve taught me more than I ever taught him. Steve asked me a few very simple questions way back a quarter of a century ago. I had just thrown up, pulling off the side of the road, running around to the back of the car, and puking my guts, I was so sick, I was about to have my first bout with duodenal cancer, terrible and didn’t even know it yet!

Out of the car he came, walked up to me and looked me in the eye and said,

“Are you willing to pay the price, because this isn’t the half of it?”

All I wanted to do was go home and climb into bed and he asked me again:

“Are you willing to pay the price, because this isn’t half of it?”

I couldn’t speak, I can still see the exact spot we were at in my mind’s eye, back on Sperry Rd. Westlake, Ohio, in the summer of 1984.

I couldn’t speak, I was afraid I would throw up again, and I nodded my head…

YES!

Then he made me say it, not so much with words as with a look…

“YES!” I screamed, yelled, bellowed, whatever it was, it was a YES!

He was right, it wasn’t half of it. But do you know what? We got back in the car, drove to our next appointment, instead of going home and getting in bed, which would have been the comfortable thing to do, the perfectly justifiable thing to do, even the rational thing to do!

We also made a sale! “Ace” Heating and Cooling (name changed), I remember it like it was yesterday because I was visibly ill and we still made the sale…for a ton of money.

Then? I went home and went to bed! I spent the next 12 weeks in Fairview General Hospital and Metro General Hospital, in Cleveland, but I will never forget that question or that sale!

The lesson was clear, sometimes when everything in your body and your mind is screaming stop, I don’t like this, this is uncomfortable, even painful, if we somehow force ourselves through the pain barrier and through the comfort zone…

WE CAN DO GREAT THINGS, WE CAN BE GREAT, WE CAN LIVE A GREAT LIFE! BUT WE MUST FIRST…DARE TO BE GREAT!

Every time I think of quitting, I am taken back to the side of the road and that surreal scene a quarter of a century ago. Steve was at my wedding to Connie in Las Vegas and remains for ever in my thoughts.

Everyone has a Steve in their life, some listen to the message and some quit. I hope none of you don’t quit! Quitting is easy and quitting becomes habit…and then you are going find that there is no way back until you break the mold and begin to believe in yourself again. Difficult? Yes! Impossible? Never!

“Never, never, never give up!” Winston Churchill

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Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

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