Online and Offline Business Success is About One Thing

The Client!

Zig Ziglar was one of the first real sales trainers and motivational speakers I heard speak live…and it transformed my thinking and my life!

Zig Ziglar said something all those years ago that has stayed with me throughout my business life and has been the basis of every entrepreneurial endeavor:

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”

I’ve always thought of it as pushing others up. I’ve heard other describe it as pushing people forward.

Regardless of how you phrase it, one thing is certain, if you push enough other people up, you can’t help but ascend the ladder along with them. In fact, if you help others succeed, they will generally bend over backwards to make sure you do too.

Some of the skeptics out there may disagree with that last statement…but I have found it to be true over and over again.

People are wonderful!

And, like you and I, all most people want is a better life for themselves and their loved ones.

If someone owns a business, they want to make sure their family, friends, and employees are taken care of and that they have built up a successful enough business to either sell it when the time is right, thus providing for themselves and their loved ones; or, they want to pass it along to the kids, other relatives, and/or loyal employees when the time comes.

The Life Lesson My Grandfather Taught Me

My grandfather was an incredible force in my life, an example of the type of person I have just described and have always aspired to become!

In the early 1980s, Chevrolet decided they were no longer going to have what they call a point, that means a dealership presence in a given area, in downtown Detroit. Detroit had weathered the riots a few years before and GM was moving most of its dealerships to the suburbs.

So, after almost 50 years in business my grandfather was closing his doors. Trumbull Chevrolet was the first dealership in downtown Detroit and an institution for decades. They were a casualty of the times; and, of urban blight and suburban flight.

The thing that amazed me, and has stayed with me for the last 28 years, not unlike the Zig Ziglar quote above, was that prior to closing his doors, my grandfather made sure every person working for him had a job.

That’s right!

In the midst of the worst economy since The Great Depression, my grandfather got 73 of his 74 employees jobs before he closed his doors once and for all.

The 74th person was the real lesson!

The 74th person was a man I knew only as “Little Joe.”

Little Joe had started with my grandfather many years before. By the 1980s, Little Joe was too old and too well-paid for him to be placed anywhere. Consequently, Little Joe was the one person my grandfather couldn’t find adequate employment for. In corporate America, Little Joe would have been out of luck!

Not so with my grandfather!

My grandfather, having no other option that would sit well with who he was as a man who loved and cared for his employees, hired Little Joe to help my grandmother around the house, drive her to the store, basically help her with whatever she needed help with.

Joe was probably the highest paid helper/companion in Detroit at the time. My grandmother was showing the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease and needed a companion more than anything. Little Joe needed a job.

It was a marriage (or a job) made in heaven!

Little Joe could barely help himself most days, but that didn’t matter, my grandfather was faithful to Little Joe and Little Joe loved my grandfather and my grandmother.

A Business and a Life Lesson Learned from the Detroit Riots

In fact, during the 1968 Detroit riots, my grandfather’s dealership, a block away from Tiger (Briggs) Stadium in downtown Detroit, was not touched. During that entire summer of upheaval and rioting? Not a window was broken not a single car was vandalized.

While National Guard tanks rolled up and down the city streets and into the suburbs, Little Joe sat with my grandfather, so he would be safe…and they protected “the store,” together.

My grandfather came to find out later that many of his employees, people who lived in the neighborhood, had more or less let it be known that Trumbull Chevrolet was not to be touched. My grandfather had made it a point to hire his neighbors, and his employees became his second family.

When he needed them, his second family took care of him…and their business.

So, while Detroit burned, my grandfather and Little Joe sat and watched from the dealership’s showroom windows. And his employees, who also loved him, made sure he was OK and that the dealership, and the office building that had held the Detroit Lions offices, also owned by my grandfather, were not touched.

He had made it his mission to help the people of Detroit and they returned the favor…and then some.

Like I said, people are wonderful!

People deserve to be treated with integrity and honesty. If you treat people according to the way you want to be treated and help them get what they want…you will succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

And, you’ll be able to sleep at night!

In sales and marketing, and particularly in Internet marketing, I see things that, even after all these years in sales and marketing, I do not understand. Seth Godin says much of it has to do with Little Lies…or at least that’s how it begins.

I agree!

But I also believe it speaks to who we are as individuals!

It is so easy to succeed in business, any business, if you help enough other people get what they want. Forget about the shortcuts, forget about the “fast and easy,” and forget about the secrets to success.

There is only one secret to success:

The Golden Rule!

Who among us wouldn’t help someone who has helped us get to where we want to be in life? Who wouldn’t treat us as we wish to be treated…if we’ve treated them well?

It’s about pushing people up!

The “secret to success”? Push enough people up or forward and treat them as you would like to be treated.

It really is that simple!

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004

This Sort of Scarcity Ploy is Dated and a Huge Turnoff!

When Will the Internet Marketing World Learn that People Are Not that Gullible!

We are well past the point of a simple oversight, this is a ploy designed to heighten the impulse to purchase based on one thing:

Scarcity!

If this is Affiliate Marketing 2.0? They can keep it!

The Little Lies Continue: The Affiliate Dot Com Screen Capture 8-26-2010 3:54:17 PM

The Ning Violation

Is Ning’s Decision Good Business?

I usually write about Internet marketing, inbound marketing, online business, offline/online business, and the like here at The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed. This blog post is related to all of those topics and more.

The decision Ning made, and will enforce tomorrow, will affect people from all walks of life, many who simply built a wonderful little, or not-so-little, online community.

The Ning Violation is, in fact, a violation of a commitment, an agreement between Ning and all of those little online communities and their members. It will affect many people and it has been handled badly. It is not about the money.

It is about an implicit contract, a social contract if you will, between Ning and its users.

That is why I call it The Ning Violation!

The Ning Violation

I awoke this morning, went through my usual routine, and then went to my email box. I always put off email until I have accomplished my two major tasks of the day, so as not to be distracted. Email is the bane of almost every marketer’s existence. You can’t work effectively if you focus too much time and attention on email, it will suck precious minutes and hours out of your day; and, conversely, you can’t do business without it, email is a crucial component in today’s interconnected, online world.

So, on to my email inbox and what do I find?

An email announcing The Ning Violation, a take it or leave it upgrade policy. I have Ning pages and have set them up for clients, so naturally I was concerned. Several things popped into my head almost at once, the first was a twinge of anger at the prospect of my work being held hostage; and, right along with that thought was the thought that, if this was rubbing me the wrong way, it had to be affecting others the same way.

Mountain out of a mole hill?

Tempest in a teapot?

Perhaps!

After all, at first glance I can upgrade for as little as $2.95 per month or $19.95/year.

Peanuts!

But then, I looked at what I get for “peanuts” and it seems pretty obvious where I am being pointed by the marketing team at Ning.

Next, I reviewed Ning Plus with Advanced Features for $19.95 per month or $199.95/year and it looks a bit better.

Until I realize that Ning has conveniently left out the capability to add new videos or offer music, two of the most popular Ning features. They do allow access to current videos, so they do appear to understand the concept of grandfathering, but it appears to be too little, too late.

Finally, we get to Ning Pro, announced as being Built for Scale. Ning Pro os $49.95 per month or $499.95/year…and I save 17%!

API Access, unavailable at the lower levels is offered as an upgrade at the Pro Level, as are additional Bandwidth and Storage.

Ning offers sponsored networks for Education at the Mini level and Health at the Plus level. Both sponsorship networks require an application process and a sponsorshiop acknowledgement must be placed on the header of your Ning Mini or Ning Plus page.

If it is in one of those two categories and if it qualifies.

Several questions popped into my mind:

1. Why was this notice the first notice? I am very good about catching this sort of thing and even go through my spam folder before deleting it to make sure nothing important gets trapped. But I will concede this point, perhaps I was missed or missed the announcement.
2. Why am I getting this notice one day before the cut off?
3. How are my clients going to react to an increase in fees, however small, for something they perceived as free?
4. Is this ethical?
5. Is this good business?

The Ning Violation

This is clearly not a lot of money and we all have more important things to occupy our time.

So, why do I feel violated?

This is the heart of it:

This is bad business, plain and simple. The cost is irrelevant, the threat is, take it or leave it. It is unethical. Interestingly, if you have a Ning page and you do not upgrade to the appropriate level? They are holding your content. You can’t see it, it isn’t available to anyone through their network, but it is there and you can download it to your computer.

But then what?

We all know who the content belongs to. It belongs to the creator of the page and the members. That content is as much a part of their lives as anything they have built online and now they either accept Ning’s terms or they have no vehicle for expression.

Yes, I am sure Ning has that tied up in the Terms of Service (TOS). I haven’t checked as of this writing but it is irrelevant at this point because they have lost a user, several actually.

Ning obviously knows what a Grandfather clause is.

Why didn’t they use it in some way, shape or form?

Let’s look at a possible scenario:

A community develops a soccer program and tells everyone in town they can play and the community will pick up the bill, play on the community fields. etc. Coaches can create the best team possible from the available pool of children who want to play. To build the program and the individual teams, everyone will invest their time to get the program going and make the individual teams successful.

Now comes The Soccer Violation

After a couple of years the program has been built and the teams are flourishing.

Now, the community steps in and says:

“Things are going to change beginning tomorrow. Beginning tomorrow, you can play in the pasture over by the barn for $3 a month per child or you can play in the baseball diamond outfield for $20 a child or you can continue to play on the nice, new community soccer fields for $50 a child. Up to you, take it or leave it…the new program starts tomorrow.”

There will be a lot of kids out of soccer in that community…today!

I am willing to bet, there will be a lot less Ning pages in the online community tomorrow and a lot of ill-will for a long time to come.

Here are the questions that started rattling around in my brain as soon as I read the email and as I dug into this deeper:

If Ning can do it, who will be next?

If Ning can pull off The Ning Violation, why not Facebook or YouTube or Twitter?

Perhaps it is coming, in one way or another. Bit by bit and drip by drip, things will change, they always do. But many have asked this question, faced this scenario head on, and balked.

Why did Ning push the envelop?

Are they in trouble financially?

Hard to say!

But the question I come back to time and again is:

The Ning Violation: Is it Ethical?

This is not what I had intended to write about for this blog today…but I think the question deserved the space.

I hope you agree!

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read this post/rant.

Please, feel free to comment and don’t forget to subscribe…we have an awesome ebook coming out on September 7, 2010 and it is only available to subscribers…free.

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004
Skype: johnzajaros1

PS, Check out our newest blog at Ultimate Inbound Marketing. It is still young but will grow fast…I hope you will grow with us!

Making Money on the Internet is Something You Must Excel At…To Be Any Good At!

I read an interesting quote a long time ago, it was actually a line from a book I was reading entitled Hearts in Atlantis. The book was eventually made into a movie, as all Stephen King books are. Interestingly, unlike most Stephen King books converted to movies, this was a good one with a stellar cast. Anthony Hopkins was masterful, as usual, and a young Anton Yelchin, later to emerge in Terminator Salvation with Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, was amazing…perhaps the role of his life.

The quote:

“…and wishing doesn’t make it so! ”

This quote is so common, at least in the sense that it has been around forever, as to be almost cliche.

Almost…if it weren’t so true!

Interestingly, the quote has carryover power into almost any milieu and in virtually all walks of life.

There is another quote, a bit cruder, that pretty much carries the same message, albeit to a little different crowd and in a much different way.

The quote:

“If you wish in one hand and sh*t in the other…you can be certain of one thing…sh*t!

I warned you! It’s all in the delivery.

Ultimately, the messages are the same:

“Success takes effort…no amount of wishing will make it so!”

We are told daily to attract this and envision that.

Yes, visualization is crucial. But visualization and goal setting without follow-through is worthless. This hoo-haa (technical term) being peddled of late is garbage. You’ve heard the stuff (two technical terms in a row!), it’s being pitched everywhere.

Unfortunately, it is like baking a cake without adding heat…it ain’t gonna happen!

Success takes effort. Success takes real, concentrated, long term effort. Success takes getting through what Seth Godin refers to as The Dip. Very often, success takes getting through and beyond several Dips!

Success takes balls!

There, I said it!

That’s about as crude as I have ever been online or offline, at least since the Army (1972-73), but it is true and someone needs to say it.

If you can’t “grow a pair, you’re destined to fail!

Success is tough.

Success is often dirty.

Success is frustrating, tiring, and humiliating!

Success is wonderful!

Success takes concentrated effort and it is never easy.

Not real success, the kind of success that lasts, the kind of success that is meaningful, that you can share…that you want to share!

Beware of the following quote:

The Easy Path to Riches!

Do you know how many results you get when you type in that keyword phrase?

Over 1,000,000!

Many people are caught by the Siren’s Call:

“The Easy Path to Riches!”

Short term thinking will lead to long term failure. Don’t fall into the trap! It takes more than setting up a website and tweeting all day on Twitter to succeed. If that were the case, we’d have witnessed hundreds of thousands of “success stories” by now.

And that ain’t happening!

It takes more than a few articles and dozens of videos to succeed online. I takes more than creating a Facebook page and a LinkedIn profile.

It takes learning, applying, tweaking, throwing most of it out, and beginning again.

Success is never easy…but it is always worth it!

Ultimately, success means different things to different people and what you thought would define your success when you started out will be nothing like the success you end up with.

Guaranteed!

Success is indeed the journey. But more than that, success is a process, a growth process that never ends…until we do.

So, how do we succeed online? By growing, by learning, by sharing, and by growing some more. In the end, your success will be defined by your effort and by what you put into your endeavor.

Finally, I believe success has little to do with making money, money is just a measure, and not a very meaningful one. The success you achieve will define you as much as you are defined by it. So stick with it, apply yourself, ask for help, and be flexible.

Because, as stated above, the success you end up with will be very different from the success you set out to achieve.

And wishing doesn’t make it so!

Contact me anytime!

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
Skype: johnzajaros1
216-712-7004 (bus)
440-821-7018 (cell)

Life is Full of Lessons, You Simply Have to Pay Attention!

A funny thing happened on my walk with TuffGuy…I learned something about people!

You might call it a marketing lesson or simply a lesson about people. Ultimately, it was another life lesson and I had fun learning it.

I was walking along the other night and I got this idea. That happens to me a lot! Some of the ideas I get a pretty good and other seem really good at the time but end up failing my “Light of Day Test.”

The Light of Day Test

I read Stephen King’s memoir about writing, aptly entitled On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and he said something about his process that’s stayed with me over the years. King said that when he has a good idea he kind of lets it sit in his head for a while, to see if it has traction, to see if it takes hold. If it stands the test of time in his head, he takes it to the next level.

My Light of Day Test is quite similar. I get ideas all the time, we all do, but I rarely act on them immediately. You see, when you get as many ideas as I do, as well all do, there are good ones, not-so-good ones, and then there are the ones that just plain stink! The funny thing is that at first it is hard to tell the great ones form the stinkers…it takes the Light of Day to expose them for what they are or aren’t.

Consequently, whenever I have an idea, I either set it down in one of the little black books I carry around (purchased for a few bucks through Amazon), an idea I got from Perry Marshall, or I record it using my little digital recorder, the one I carry with me wherever I go.

You see, ideas are a lot like dreams; and, if you think you can remember them by simply saying to yourself, “That’s a great idea, I’ll have to remember that one!” You are kidding yourself! Within a very short period of time, you will find yourself struggling to remember the idea, if you can even remember that you had the idea in the first place.

The mind is funny that way!

So, I record everything…in one way or another. Then? I let it sit for at least a day and usually two. 48 hours seems to be best. If it stands the Light of Day for 48 hours, it’s a good one and I need to act on it. If I still haven’t done anything with it after 96 hours…it’s either uninteresting or a stinker.

I was struggling for a way to say Happy Birthday America and Happy 4th of July to my subscribers and clients. It’s all been done and most of it has been said to the point of cliche…so I struggled…until I came up with the idea I eventually ran with.

Happy Birthday America!

I got the idea to have people on the street say “Happy Birthday America!” But how? That was tough because I was a bit nervous about walking up to people on the street like that and I wasn’t sure how over the top I wanted to go with it either. Would I go to the metro parks and ask people? Would I go to the local beaches?

Anyway, I always carry my Flip MinoHD with me wherever I go. Yes, I know! Digital recorder, Flip MinoHD, cell phone, it’s all a bit much. I agree! Heck, I could probably help jump start a car with the battery power I carry around with me! But in today’s world, and particularly as an inbound marketing consultant, it pays to be plugged in. Not that I like it, mind you…it’s a necessity.

So, there I was walking down the street with TuffGuy, it’s about midnight or a little before on Detroit Ave in Lakewood, Ohio; there are a lot of people out an about on their way to their favorite night spots.

It’s now or never…so I go for it!

I pull out my Flip MinoHD and screw in the mini tripod so I have something to hold onto and stabilize the shot a little. Before I know it the first group comes along and I blurt out:

“Hey guys! Will you say Happy Birthday America!?”

And they do!

Great! I’m off and running and each success fuels my enthusiasm and I get bolder. I even start asking people to do it over if they haven’t given it their all…and they do!

Marketing Lesson One:

People will surprise you. If you are genuine and ask their permission…they will respond! But you have to ask! And you must smile!

Interestingly, almost everyone said “Yes!”

Almost everyone!

Two groups of young ladies said no, not particularly surprising given the hour of the day, midnight, and the fact that I was a “strange” man, strange to them, with a camera asking them to do something out of the ordinary. What was interesting was how many said yes…that was interesting.

One person said no in a not so pleasant way, a man. I would say he was his early 30s and walking alone. It wasn’t that he said no, he wasn’t profane, he was rather contemptuous. Yes, I got all of that in less than a second or two.

Malcolm Gladwell is right. I got it all in a Blink!

Of the two groups of young ladies, diffusion of responsibility played a role (see the incredible story of Kitty Genovese for how powerful a force this can be). In both instances at least one person in each group appeared willing until the more dominant personality said no…then all bets were off. Interesting!

In each instance, the dominant personality determined for the other or others, and the remaining group members simply acquiesced. Only in one instance did the group respond with “Happy Birthday America!” after one member of the group said no. In this instance, the two in agreement were clearly dominant and were out to have a good time. The third in that group did stay in the frame but was clearly shy and out of her element.

Again, interesting!

Significantly, the early successes fueled my enthusiasm and provided a buffer against the disappointment of the occasional no. Many sales people and marketers are stopped by a no early in the prospecting cycle; and, after all, wasn’t I prospecting?

Every time I got someone to shout of “Happy Birthday America!”, and some even sang it (Ha!), I made a sale!

Think about that for a minute from a sales and marketing perspective! Heck, from a human perspective:

• I was walking along an at times, poorly lit city street at midnight
• I am a 5’11″ and 220lb man in his mid-50s with a little dog
• I am a complete stranger
• I have something in my hand!
• Not only that, I am walking right up to them
• I am making eye contact
• And I am asking them to get out of their comfort zone and do something totally unanticipated and even uncomfortable

And they did it! Not once or twice but over 30 times in the course of two hours with a 10% refusal rate!

Marketing lesson number two:

Some people will say no…to anything!

I could have been providing ice water at the Earth’s core and the same three groups would probably have said no. In fact, they will probably say no to most things. Sometimes you just can’t give stuff away.

So, relax, play the numbers, and smile!

Rejection:

• Expect it
• Live with it
• Understand it is not personal
• Move on

Once again, it is not personal, move on!

Marketing Lesson Three:

This is probably the most interesting takeaway of all…people will surprise you!

The results of my little impromptu, marketing experiment were, as I’ve said above, interesting. The results were also encouraging. The individuals I approached had every right to say “Buzz off!” or worse and they didn’t, they were friendly, open, and receptive.

Why?

I can only guess without a proper survey but I would have to guess that it was a number of things:

• I smiled!
• I had TuffGuy with me and TuffGuy acted as a foil. He offered enough contrast and offset what may have otherwise been viewed as a threatening situation.
• My age, I look like someone’s grandfather. I am someone’s grandfather!
• Almost everyone I approached was in a group and I was alone. There’s safety in numbers.
• The situation was conducive for such an approach. People were out having a good time and were relaxed, apt to “give it a shot.”

I could go on but I think the best strategy from here is to let you see the reactions of the people. I did cut a couple of clips for the sake of time and to edit out the clips that were just too dark to see. Otherwise, the clips are as is…as you will soon see.

If you are into marketing as I am, you will no-doubt find the video interesting, particularly in light of the marketing takeaways described above.

At least I hope you do!

As always, contact me if you need anything or leave a comment and I will respond!

Thank you for taking the time to read the above and view the video. If you like it, tell others. If you have feedback, let me know. If you wold like me to cover a certain aspect of marketing, drop me a line.

Thank you!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
440-821-7018 (cell)
216-712-7004 (bus)

It is hard to believe it has already been more than a year online…time flies when you’re having fun!

In fact, I took my first, very tentative steps online in August of 2008!

In August of 2008, almost a year and a half ago now…(wow, time flies!)…I knew 2 things:

1) The Internet was the place to be if I wanted to build my own business.

2) I needed a lot of help and/or a heap of education, and I needed it fast!

Little did I know, as I started on my journey into Internet marketing and e-commerce, my “quest” if you will, how all consuming, demanding, and completely exhilarating a ride, and an education, I was in for!

Had I known then what I know now?

Yup!

Wild horses couldn’t hold me back!

Picture this:

1) A 53 year old Caucasian male, 10 shades beyond pale!

2) 50 pounds overweight and not carrying it well at all!

3) Still recovering from, and as it turned out still fighting, two life threatening conditions!

4) Highly educated, including a doctoral fellowship to one of the most prestigious consortiums in the country…after graduating summa and bypassing the masters requirement entirely!

5) More than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, including advertising, founding a successful health and fitness center, and an extensive and impressive managerial resume!

6) A CV and a resume that would make most recruiters beg for a chance to place me, and some did. Beg…not place me!

7) Trained successful athletes at the amateur and professional level. At one time considered taking a strength coaching position with Donald Trump’s New Jersey Generals of the USFL! Trained members of the Cleveland Browns who were given permission by Sam Rutigliano to train with me instead of with their strength coach, Dave Redding!

Did I say sick as a dog?

9) I could go on for weeks, my resume was impressive but I had some issues…and did I say I was sick?

The end result of all of the above, and much more? I couldn’t get a job delivering pizzas!

You see, part of the problem was I was “overqualified,” how exactly one can be overqualified to deliver a pizza no one really explained to me…but I was.

I was also very sick, I did say that, right?

And, because of the illness and all the complications I had a huge gaping hole in my resume, ten years to be precise.

So, I had to go into this story about almost losing my life, a missed diagnosis by the Cleveland Clinic (yes, they do screw up!), and repairing the wreckage of my life.

Yah…dee…yah…dee…yah…dee…yah!

I would get that look, you know the one, and usually from someone roughly half my age and with one-tenth of the experience.

They would say something like:

“We are taking applications all week, once we have reviewed all the applicants qualifications, we will contact you if we are interested.”

Or something like that.

Translation:

“Don’t call us, we’ll call you!”

That was the most humiliating experience of my life, I hated coming home and telling Connie and the girls that I had struck out again. I used to get calls from firms begging me to come to work for them!

But during that period…I couldn’t get a job delivering pizzas!

Then, one day I got a call!

Hooray!

The BP gas station and convenience store down on the corner called me and asked me to come in for an interview. I had filled out an application online, I figured I could work nights and perhaps go back to school or something.

It still amazes me, that combination, gas and convenience store…when did all this happen?

Anyway, I went through the interview process. The manager was a nice “kid.” To me, anyone under about 35 seems like a kid. My son is 34, my oldest, so it just feels like I am looking at and talking to my son when I am talking to a 35 year old man.

Wow!

Am I getting old or what?!

So, I passed all the interviews, the background check, etc. and was offered a job.

Yes!

Finally!

A job!

But something funny happened on my way to the gas station…I woke up. Not only did I wake up, I realized if I took that job I would probably be lost forever. Accepting that job would be like signaling to the whole world, but most importantly to myself, my self, that I had quit, thrown in the towel, accepted a minimum wage job because it was the best I could do!

No way!

I stopped dead in my tracks, did a complete 180, and asked my youngest to help me build a website.

The rest is history!

I am looking back a year and a half later. I built that first website by myself, by the way; and, it still generates business every single month! Terrible looking Yahoo, cookie-cutter website but it was my first.

And, you know what they say about your first!

But looking back, knowing I had been so right, about it all…but most of all about being lost forever if I had accepted that job.

Thank goodness I still had a sliver of self-esteem, just a sliver mind you…but it was enough.

I am now making a decent living in a number of ways online. The whole multiple streams thing, I learned my lessons well! I have explored the Internet marketing niche, and am beginning to strangle enough of an income out of that very stingy niche to pay for the top level of the best implementation programs online today, TrafficGeyser and Infusionsoft.

That, in and of itself, is quite an accomplishment! When I started I couldn’t scrape up enough money for the gold membership in Tellman’s Listbuilding Club!

How sad is that?

I had to settle for the $67 per month level of The Listbuilding Club, the $97 per month gold level was just out of my reach!

Now?

I pay more than that for my hosting account(s) for my various blogs and websites!

Times do change and perseverance, persistence, and determination pay off…big time!

Now?

I have to decide what direction I want to take most of my efforts…because I am about building something meaningful, something unique, something that is mine and reflects my personality.

I am not interested in the cookie-cutter, plug-n-go nonsense so many seem to be attracted to and so many more seem bent on selling.

I have discovered that true success online comes at a price, and it is much higher than many would have us believe, but it is worth it!

So, what can you take away from this?

1) Find something you love, something that will get you out of bed in the morning after the novelty of building your own business wears off…and it will! You will experience dips…count on it!

2) Make sure you have a starving crowd, a target market that wants what you are passionate about offering them. If not, find something else. Don’t fall in love with an idea! All you will succeed in doing is going broke trying to force the market, and you can’t force the market!

3) Opinions are the cheapest commodity online, everyone has one…like something else (to be crude…sorry)…and most are selling them in ebook format for $17!

Amazing but true!

Who in the world thinks they can learn a business by spending $17 for anything?

Anyone who thinks that…go to the back of the class and sit in the corner, you need a timeout.

At least!

4) Invest in education and implementation, preferably both. TrafficGeyser and Infusionsoft are perfect examples! The learning curve is steep and there will be times you will want to throw the computer, the desk, the cat, the dog, the goldfish, the hamster (cat’s gotta eat, right?) and anything else within reach out the window.

Wow, I did!

Wanted to, that is.

5) Find a mentor and LISTEN to him or her!

If someone is willing to give you their time, buy the things they recommend and use them.

EXAMPLE: If you decide to go to Cleveland State University to play soccer, you do so with the understanding that the coach is dedicated to making you, and the team, winners. So, don’t join the team and then refuse to do what the coach advises. If you do that, you might as well have gone to the community college and played intramural soccer. The results will be about the same with your online business.

So, if you use a mentor or a mastermind, and you should use both, USE them! And I mean use them up…be a sponge!

6) Learn the business, become a student of the business.

There is so much information available online in the form of whitepapers and because of the whole moving the free-line thing (my thoughts on this are fodder for another blog post) that you cannot fail if you simply search, research, and apply.

SEARCH…RESEARCH…APPLY!

Make sure you become an expert of the business. A student of marketing and, yes, sales! Bob Oros has a wonderful program if you are squeamish about sales. He is a gifted sales trainer!

Yes, online business is enjoyable, Internet marketing can be exhilarating! But it is not kid’s stuff, it is a business!

Learn it!

“And when you can take the pebble out of my hand…you will be ready, Grasshopper!”

I could go on and on, as I could have with the description above.

Oh yeah, forgot about that guy, huh?

Me too, sort of!

That is, until I drive by a BP station and think about how close I came to resigning my life, to signing off, giving in and up!

Now?

I am making money and helping others do the same, it is wonderful! I live Pay it Forward every day and it comes back to me ten-fold!

I am in the process of working on a second doctorate…this one in Internet marketing, with an emphasis in inbound marketing.

I love it!

And, after a year and a half, I still skip sleep, run for days on 3-4 hours of sleep a night, and can’t get enough of it!

If you have that sort of passion, combined with a burning desire, you too can earn your Internet marketing doctorate and experience real success online. It’s an amazing ride!

Best wishes…contact me anytime!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
216-539-7412 (office)
Skype; johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com

Internet Marketing is NOT for the Faint of Heart or Thin Skinned Individuals!

Internet marketing has been an education by fire! Learning the nuances of an online business takes time and effort….and more than a little bit of money!

Anyone who is not willing to put in their own blood, sweat, and tears will find that they are on the losing end of a very costly endeavor…it is not for the faint of heart or those individuals with thin skin.

The fact is, Internet marketing is just like any other form of business, it is difficult, it is expensive, and it will take up most of your life…and that’s if you do it right!

Michael Gerber, in The E Myth Revisited, notes that 1 million new businesses emerge every year and that after 5 years 80% are gone. Interestingly, in the next 5 years fully 80% of the remaining 20% will be gone as well! That leaves 40,000 businesses standing of the 1 million started…and that is each and every year! 960,000 out of 1,000,000 gone in 10 years!

Still want to start your won business, any business? Then you better learn fast and you better model after the best…or you will most certainly join the silenced majority!

Online business has been sold as the be-all-to-end-all, the path to the promise land, a land of abundance, full of riches beyond measure and 4 hour workweeks for the taking!

The reality of online business is quite different. Internet business, whether pursuing a specific niche by developing your own product or by selling someone else’s, is a business and must be run like a business.

The days of throwing up a website and stepping back while the coffers fill are long gone, competition and regulation have put a stop to the gold rush of the early years.

Now?

An individual business owner must have his or her business (read: act) in order and must know his of her “stuff” if they are to succeed. And I have news for you, a $17 ebook and a stock 5 page website will get you nowhere!

Still want to start an Internet business, whether in E-Commerce or selling info products? Perhaps trying your hand at affiliate marketing or developing and marketing your own product?

Great!

Starting and running your own business is an amazing experience, liberating and rewarding if done properly and with the right  help and guidance…and the correct vision!

The help and guidance includes “standing on the shoulders of giants.” In other words, use the successful business model of an individual who has blazed the trail, an individual who has and is succeeding by doing and is now willing to teach the lessons he or she has learned, often the hard way, so you don’t have to make the same mistakes.

This is so important!

Why in the world would anyone NOT listen to someone else who is willing to share their experiences, someone who has the stripes, and perhaps the war wounds, to show for it?

Guidance is altogether different from help.

Help, as explained above, consists of an individual offering to share lessons learned, a road map of sorts that when applied will provide a template to follow, a road map to assist you on your journey.

Guidance entails actively seeking out, and then listening to (and then listening to!!!) someone who is willing to offer you their help, take you by the hand to make sure you actually get the message they are trying to convey.

The latter may be referred to as a mentor, a coach, a mastermind group, etc.

This ingredient is vital to your success!

Without help and guidance, without a clear and concise business plan, a model, and without systems to apply, you have little chance of success. And, without a mentor who is emotionally, and perhaps financially, invested in your success, your chances of success are slim at best!

Most businesses go through 3 phases and it is the transition from stage one to stage two I find the most telling because it is at this point when most businesses close their doors…it is the transition from infancy to adolescence. This transition is often defined by an entrepreneur’s willingness to seek help, to seek guidance, to cry “uncle” if need be. The online business owner, any business owner, willing to put up their hands and say “I need help!” has a shot! The others will either close their doors and continue to flounder until they finally drown.

Not a pretty picture, is it?

Then why is it that most business people find it so hard to ask for help?

Pride…Ego…Whatever!

The number one killer of small businesses, online or offline, is pride (read: ego).

I call it the “I Can Do It Syndrome!“

Have you ever watched a small child confronted by something they don’t know how to do? Have you ever watched them try to figure it out? Have you ever tried to help them?

What happens?

Yup!

They reject your help, don’t they! Even after struggling on and on, they will reject your help, claiming “I can do it!”

You watch, knowing what they are doing wrong and knowing just how to explain it to them. You want to help them so they will succeed and not continue to struggle, but they reject your help and guidance.

They “can do it!”

This is a necessary part of growing up…some things must be figured out for yourself if you are to fully learn and understand them.

What is a necessary part of growing up, a universal characteristic in childhood, is a destructive characteristic in an adult, particularly in an entrepreneur, online or offline. Yet I witness it time and time again!

“I can do it myself!” Argh!

Is there a solution? I am not sure!

If you are reading this, still reading this, chances are you know someone who fits the description.

How do you even begin to address this?

I would love to provide you with answer but I am afraid the reality is as stark as the statistic above…most simply will reject your insight into their behavior rather than focus their efforts on improving themselves and their mindset, their fatal flaw.

Ultimately, it is probably a matter for each entrepreneur, individually, and you simply need to guard against it yourself. Attempting to convert the masses is futile.

Chances are, if someone is that set in their ways, that juvenile in their approach to business, there is little hope of “saving” them, and it is only a matter of time for them.

Or?

They may be one of the lucky ones, they may be one of the “children” who, just short of quitting, gets it…figures it out and moves on. Mothers around the world are known for one phrase:

“He has to learn everything the hard way!”

Frank Sinatra had a mega hit with the lyrics “I did it my way!”

There are some incapable to asking for or receiving help, at any point in their lives, personal or business. Who knows, perhaps that is a model in and of itself!

In any case, it is crucial to recognize that, unless you have an unlimited amount of money and time, and I don’t know too many with either, help and guidance are critical, crucial to your success.

The defining combination of asking for help and accepting guidance separates those who make it from those who fail. It is entirely up to you.

Do you want to be one of the 20% of the 20% or do you want to be part of the very unsuccessful and silenced majority.

As The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed approaches its second year, and other online business endeavors have already had their first year anniversary, I can tell you this…I checked my pride at the door a long time ago, and never looked back.

I have never been sorry I asked for help and I have always welcomed the help and guidance of others.

To seek assistance is an indication of strength, not weakness.

Ask and yea shall receive!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

I would like to wish all of my readers a happy and healthy holiday season! Mery Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy Kwanzaa!

Additionally, I would like to thank you for taking the time to stop here, to thank you for subscribing to our blog and to the newsletter. Thank you too for commenting when the urge or need to do so strikes you.

I welcome and encourage you to take an active role here and to make your opinions known, they are respected and appreciated! Not only are your comments appreciated and respected, they are invaluable. The comments I receive help me determine what I am going to write about and what the focus of the blog will be from day to day and week to week, so please comment freely.

In the coming year, I hope to expand upon the newsletter and to make it highly visible, as many of you are either not receiving it or not opening it when you do receive it. I hope to resolve this challenge in order to serve you better. By more of you, efficiently and effectively, it is my hope you will feel more connected to my various blogs and visit them, comment on the posts and videos, and perhaps contribute articles of your own…I encourage you do do so!

Finally, I hope you will stop at The John Zajaros Blog and view the recent video on paying it forward! It is my hope the video will inspire you to do so, to Pay it Forward, to help just one person, family, cause or shelter in need in 2010.

By helping just one, whether individual, cause, or community we help ourselves; and, the impact will be exponential, one building upon another as we make “Pay it Forward” more than a catchy phrase or a good theme for a feel good movie, it becomes your reality and shapes or reshapes your thinking, and your life, forever!

Merry Christmas and God Bless You!

John

John and Connie Zajaros and Family
216-712-6526 (home office)
216-539-7412 (bus office)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (my personal email address)

The Viral Nature of the Internet and Success in Internet Marketing:  Using Video Marketing and Traffic Geyser

The viral nature of the Internet is undeniable. The question has always been how to maximize the effect and then how to test the viral effect. Many have talked about the various tools to aid in implementation of an effective marketing strategy but few address how to test that effectiveness. One of the most powerful and immediate gages of success is Google Alerts, it is powerful and as close to immediate as one can possible hope to get.

The video below will illustrate just how effective a combination of social media marketing and Traffic Geyser can be, demonstrated beyond all question or doubt by Google Alerts!

The blog post and article at Ultimate Internet Image will tie it all together and give you almost everything you need to start and test an Internet marketing business, whether specializing in niche marketing or building an inbound marketing consultancy. Either way, a combination of Traffic Geyser (or TrafficGeyser), article marketing, and a few other resources, to include Google Alerts, will get you pointed in the right direction.

I hope this post and video, along with the one mentioned above, help you succeed!

Contact me anytime!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

The amazing thing about opportunity is that it is usually sitting right in front of your face, screaming at you, and you still can’t always see it! I have been fortunate enough in my life to have an entrepreneurial mindset. In other words, I think in terms of “what if?” However, I am not the managerial type, in that dealing with the nuts and bolts of the business is not my forte, so I must have a solid business manager. I can be a great technician, an individual who loves to get in there and do the work, write the articles, make the videos, build the websites, and all the rest.

In essence, I can be two of the three people necessary to run my business, any business, my Internet marketing business or my brick and mortar company. That is, I can be all those people doing all those things, and stretch to be and do a few more, if I never sleep, never spend time with my family, and never spend time doing the things I love, like reading!

Basically, I need one person to do the books and the tedious stuff I hate, the stuff that others love (go figure!), and one person to be there to apply all the ideas that come pouring out of my head. The marriage of the 3 is not a difficult one but it is difficult to find one person competent in all three areas…and that’s the rub! Internet marketing creates some amazing opportunities and there is a great deal of freedom from the traditional clock…but Internet marketing also presents some real challenges.

Enter The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber.

I recently came across The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It and all I can say is, “What an Godsend!” Whether is offline or an online business, this book should be required reading for anyone just starting out and those who have taken the plunge but are beginning to chase their tail; and, it seems most do at some point in their businesses evolution!

I thought I was lazy or that there was a serious flaw in my makeup. After all, why couldn’t I handle all three of these areas? Certainly others did! Interestingly, most don’t, and that’s why many fail. Interestingly, I am not alone. It seems there are quite a few businesspeople, in fact most of them, who fall into exactly the same category…strong in one area, maybe two, but lacking in at least one of the three key personalities necessary to really make things click.

I wholeheartedly recommend The E-Myth Revisited to anyone wishing to make a go of it long term in business, in Internet marketing, some other type of e-commerce, or in a traditional brick and mortar store. Had I read this book, and a couple of others I will review through the next week, things could have been so much easier, so much smoother, and so much less time consuming!

The irony of it all is not lost, as I am seeing myself page after page and stage after stage described by Michael Gerber. The nice part is that it didn’t come too late! I have started and run businesses before and have always done quite well, but I can see the pitfalls and the traps Michael Gerber describes emerging in my newest online venture. And, I can see them in 20/20 hindsight in all my old ventures.

Having gutted through similar experiences before, I was simply committed to gutting it out again! Had I only known what was happening, I could have fixed the problem, adjusted for the conditions, and made the necessary adjustments; and, things would have been so much simpler.

Now?

I have that luxury!

And, compared to the road I was going down once again, one full of sleepless nights and deadlines dancing in my head (no sugar plums, to be sure!), the alternative is delightful and Internet marketing is a pleasure once again! You see, I found out it isn’t a sin to be less than competent in all aspects of a businesses identity, in fact few business people are. I am now focused on building the correct business model and taking me out of the equation…at least as much as is possible. What remains should be a profitable venture that can stand alone and be replicated.

How great is that!?

So, do yourself a favor and read The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael Gerber. The E-Myth Revisited will change your perspective and change your business life…Internet marketing or brick and mortar!

I will be reviewing a few other books I have been reading lately as I try to shore up my knowledge of business building and move into the new year in high gear!

Join me as a subscriber and get ready for a monthly newsletter that is already shaping up to be something quite special!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
216-539-7412 (bus)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

PS, As many know I am into video marketing in a big way and I have access to a FREE video that can help transform your Internet marketing business! This video is about a young US Marine, just discharged, homeless, and now making a great income online. In fact, he did it in a matter of a few weeks and, knowing what he does now, it could have been days! Check this video out and if you have any questions about how to apply it to your own Internet business, let me know, I will be happy to answer them for you. Just click here!