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!

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!

Dan Hollings was brilliant tonight, talking about the Twitter marketing portion of StomperNet’s new Internet marketing platform.

As has been the case with every member of the StomperNet faculty over the past month, Dan was fantastic! The ladies and gentlemen of the StomperNet faculty have defined Internet marketing and online business success; and, they have also demonstrated the professional way to launch an Internet marketing product, with first-class information and a quality platform!

If you follow me anywhere on social media, you know that I am a big advocate of implementation. In other words, taking action using the proper tools, and to do so in the most efficient and effective way possible. I am talking about an Internet marketing business system, combining the necessary tools to make money online, along with those necessary to run a business effectively, not just in the sort run…but for years to come, should that be your desire.

I am always skeptical when I read some of the sales letters written by people calling themselves “gurus.” In some instances, these tomes are written by people barely able to keep their businesses afloat, offering this program or that, many of the words bandied about are:

Guru, and you may already know how I feel about that term as a descriptive adjective for most marketers!

Mentor, always at a prices that would make a Vegas Madam blush!

Coach, I wonder what John Wooden or Joe Paterno would say?

“Life” Coach, as opposed to what?

And many more!

Many of the people using these appellations have never built a lasting business of their own, in good times or bad, and fewer still have any real idea what it takes to be successful in the long-term. Yet we are bombarded daily with parroted advice from those among us…

“Faking it, until making it!”

Don’t get me wrong!

I am 100% behind people making a go of it online, in Internet marketing proper or in affiliate or niche marketing, because it’s all really the same thing (or is it?), they have my respect and admiration!

The problem I have is with people attempting to run before they have a good understanding of what it takes to walk…and attempting to lead others over the same cliff you may be heading for. The drop is steep and unforgiving.

So, my question is this:

If you aren’t sure of what you are doing, how in the world are you going to teach others?

The answer:

You can’t, at least not without pulling the both of you down together!

You see, sales and marketing is a lot more complex than most people maintain in their books with the catchy phrases. While many throw around names like Hill, Nightingale, Ziglar, Hopkins, Girard, and now Robbins and Tracy, they have little understanding of what drives people to act on a consistent and continuous basis, on both sides of the equation; sales/marketing; and, the purchasing-target audience/market.

Unfortunately, certain Internet marketing “gurus” have created an air of positive expectancy that doesn’t always match up with reality.

Some marketing “gurus” claim the “chosen few” will make from $10,000 to $100,000 per month in a matter of a few weeks, implying that all you have to do is:

1) Spend $X dollars for an application fee…that one kills me!

2) Spend $Y dollars an ebook…usually written in vague generalities in order to sell more, you guessed it, stuff!

AND

3) Spend $Z dollars for a monthly membership…and we get what for that? More stuff!

FINALLY

4) The heavens will open and all will be made clear from one high!

After all, their sales letter maintains…just look what Gee Willacres did in just 6 months after:

1) Having a leg removed…the wrong one!

2) Being trampled by a horse…a pony from the traveling carnival really!

AND

3) Having open-heart surgery…when he was supposed to have a kidney transplant!

If Gee can do it…well, gosh…so can you!

Pile on top of this line of whooey, whooey being a technical term I learned at the George Carlin School of Internet Marketing and Online Shenanigans Annual Conference, in suburban Tehran, the idea that a web presence (nice word for mass produced website) set up as some sort of a cookie-cutter, big scheme Internet marketing (Read: MLM) template is going to do draw the thousands to tens of thousands of victims, I mean visitors, per month necessary, based on even the best conversion numbers online, to generate that sort of income is flat out tom-foolery!

Another Carlin school term! Being a graduate, I am allowed to thrown them around!

And I am being very kind with the descriptive adjectives…sans the four letter ones!

Reality?

The reality of an individual with no clear idea of what to do and how to do it, just laid off from his or her job at Bob’s Burger Palace and Horseshoeing Emporium, a gig they’ve had for the last 20 years, and turning to the Internet in desperation is very different from the reality of an individual who has a marketing background, a stable home life, time to build a proper foundation before going full time, which includes the time educate one’s self, the moxie to network properly, and plenty of resources to spend on education and to fall back on if he or she takes a header off of one of those Internet marketing, online business cliffs!

Yet Internet marketing “gurus” seem to focus on the target market en mass…without realizing that Joe Palooka’s Internet marketing needs are very different from Betsey Homecki’s online business aspirations! Very few people (read: gurus with a small “g”) actually take the time to build any version of “Bob” (watch The New Money Masters with Frank Kern and Tony Robbins, brilliant!), and if they are, they must be way off the mark, because most of the people I talk to are frustrated, angry, disenchanted, and even bitter…tracking back to their experiences with the “gurus!” They want to make it, many want it with a white hot desire! The problem is with the delivery of information at a reasonable cost and in a way that is truly user friendly.

I don’t believe many of the “gurus” have a clue how people learn, much less what it takes to teach them! The end result is a support nightmare, a lot of people referring to “gurus” as scam artists, and a stadium full of people (Read: Joe Girard) screaming don’t buy from so-and-so! More to come on this topic!

So, getting back to Internet marketing, online business success, coaching, mentoring, and implementation!

The problem most people have starting out is not a lack of information, there is plenty of good information available if you know how to research and know what you are looking for; it’s not that there isn’t a proven template for success, there are several successful online business models available; and, it’s not that there is a lack of quality software to implement even the most ambitious strategies, there are some great Internet marketing implementation platforms available. The challenge is in knowing who to listen to, understanding what they are saying, which means cutting through all the hype; and finally, which program to invest in…in order to pull it all together…or at least start on the right path.

Who: Who to listen to and, more importantly, who to believe!

What: Understanding what they are saying. This means understanding the basics of marketing in general and Internet marketing specifically!

Which: Which way to go! There is no shortage of voices in the wilderness, some as soothing and convincing as any Siren’s call! Knowing which program to invest in has with it its own set of qualifiers and traps to avoid!

Beware!

Or better yet: Buyer Beware!

The reality…ah, back to reality…is that you can go any which way and get to where you are going. Or, as the old one-liner goes:

“You can’t get there from here!”

Ultimately, you have to put your faith, if trust is too big a word right now, in someone and something…both of them!

You must deal with the 3 Ws:

Who
What
Which

Back to Stompernet!

I have recommended a handful of programs over the last year, the ones I have wholeheartedly endorsed, and still use, I can count on one hand!

Enter StomperNet!

At $10,000 per year, it was just not in my make-up to invest that kind of money, even at $800 per month, in a marketing program, particularly at the stage of development I was in when StomperNet appeared on my radar. I have followed Brad Fallon, and he back, almost from day one of my involvement on Twitter, so I knew of Brad and StomperNet…and had heard nothing but good about both the man and the Internet marketing opportunity, because StomperNet is much more than a program, it is a complete system!

Ah, finally! The final piece of the puzzle:

System!

Like TrafficGeyser, a much more specialized system, one I endorse wholeheartedly, StomperNet is not only an Internet marketing system, it is a community, a university of sorts…in a very real way, a bit of academia on the Internet.

StomperNet is perhaps the only true Internet marketing university!

For that reason, and because I am so impressed with the StomperNet system and it’s community, including its amazing faculty, I am going to make the following offer:

If you purchase StomperNet using my affiliate link, you may contact me at any time, day or night 24/7 for the next 365 days, no kidding, for the next year, and we will work through the implementation together! I will always get back to you in short order, always!

PLEASE!

Do not take this as some sort of a “I am the greatest, I will lead you” ego trip!

I will be starting with StomperNet just like you, from the beginning! However, I do have experience with some of the components as individual products, so we will not be flying blind. What I am offering is a mastermind of at least two, open almost at your beck and call, and all you have to do is make your purchase through my link.

We will do the rest together.

In fact , I will make this even better:

For the next 90 days, we will meet online, via Skype, 3 evenings a week…for at least an hour a session…perhaps longer!

After the first 90 days we will see how things go. You never know, we may find we enjoy the mastermind sessions and simply expand upon it.

That’s my offer! I am so impressed with StomperNet, I think this is something that can serve to push a bunch of new “stompers” up all at once!

Once you get your email confirmation, and I get mine, we will set up our first session!

I am looking forward to having you as a fellow Stomper, as a colleague, and as a member of a mastermind focused solely on our collective success in Internet marekting!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., PhD
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (my very personal email address)

PS, In case you missed it, the links toward the top of the article above are for the webinar series, the ones down the page are going straight to the StomperNet main page! Either way, see you soon!

Tony Robbins has launched another masterpiece! The New Money Masters

Suffice it to say, I don’t think there is anyone who has not heard of the guru, author, Presidential confidant, and transformational speaker Anthony “Tony” Robbins.

If you have not yet read one of his many books, you most likely have seen one of his 30 minute infomercials encouraging you to use his program to unleash the power for success and happiness we all have within….The Power Within! As alluded to above, Tony has been endorsed by Presidents, actors, athletes and business people the world over.

On September 1, 2009, Tony Robbins released The New Money Masters, a monthly interview series with 12 of the most successful internet marketers on this planet. First in the series is Frank Kern, an amazing and interesting marketer/surfer dude who went from being a failed dog containment salesperson and a salesperson of credit card verification systems, to now earning a 6-7 figure income monthly, his programs responsible for generating 18 million dollars in one 24 hour period..and all as an Internet marketer.

Each month, subscribers will receive Tony’s interview with another one of these successful marketers on DVD and CD, complete with a step-by-step workbook of that marketers system; and, Tony’s very special brand of analysis, taking the opportunity to a whole new level.

This is truly another masterful piece of work by Tony Robbins, and one I highly recommend to anyone serious about harnessing the power of the Internet, as well as the power in each and every one of us! The system is the compilation of the best of the best, brought to you and synthesized as only Tony Robbins can…it is not to be missed!

As an aside, Tony Robbins is one of many authors/speakers whose works have enlightened me over the years. I can rattle off a hundred names, quite literally, and perhaps more, yet it is Tony’s work I look to when I need to reach deep within myself and “Unleash the Power Within!”

Finally, while Tony speaks of modeling others, the student has become the true master of his craft, emerging as a cross-generational Napoleon Hill, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and Earl Nightingale in one. Routinely sought out out by the cream of society, as well as those individuals simply looking for the best strategy to conquer their fears, to remove the stumbling blocks holding them back and keeping them from achieving excellence, that is Tony’s gift to the rest of us, one that simply cannot be overstated.

It was a real pleasure to purchase this work and review it here, I have gained so much already, and this is just month number one! I can’t imagine it being any better, yet I am certain it will be. I’m looking forward to an amazing ride, ands profiting form it to boot!

Other books I recommend:

Dr. Stephen R. Covey: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People! This has been in publication almost as long as Tony’s book Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement, another masterpiece, lists Habit #7 as “Sharpen the Saw….carefully select your recreational activities such as what you put into your mind.” Education is clearly an integral aspect of #7, and Tony’s The New Money Masters encourages the purchaser/participant wise enough to listen and apply, in other words, take action, to prosper.

Stephen C. Lundin, Ph.D., Harry Paul, and John Christensen (with Foreward by Ken Blanchard, MD): Fish! – The FISH! Philosophy is a must if you are dealing with individuals, teams, and marketing. This entire book series is worth your time. The others in the Fish! series: Fish Tales! & Fish Sticks! Really great stuff for anyone interested in taking customer service up to a new level.

Last but certainly not least:

Marc Warnke: ONO – Options not Obligations – Family First Entrepreneurship. This is a template for how to live life to its fullest! Marc is not only one of my favorite authors, he is one of my favorite people! This is absolutely a must read for anyone involved in Internet marketing. In fact, this is a must read for every parent period, regardless of area of entreprenerial interest…this is just a great book!

I am including this video, with the hopes that those of you not into reading will get the message via a different formt. The important thing here is to get the information, listen to it, and apply it! Model it and take action!

TODAY!

Best wishes for your continued success!

BTW! Don’t miss Tony’s latest event in Chicago! See you there in October!

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., “The Bad Back Guy”
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed

http://twitter.com/JohnZajaros

Article marketing is one of the best ways to deliver content, drive traffic, and get links back to your site. I discuss strategies I use to succeed at article marketing in a big way. The strategies make it possible for anyone to succeed at article marketing, and to do so easily and quickly. I also recommend the use of the following software, it’s great for article submission and the upgrade is phenomenal!

Article marketing is a very effective means of promoting your own product, as well as affiliate offers. Significantly, article marketing is free! That being said, there may be some costs involved, depending on how aggressive you want to be with your article marketing and promotions. The link above and here offers an upgrade that is a few bucks but well worth it! It simplifies and streamlines the submission process, it is extremely useful and easy to use.

EzineArticles also has a Premium Membership you really need to look at, it’s that good. No, there is no affiliate program yet, I just believe Chris Knight and EzineArticles.com to be the best, the cream of the crop, and the Platinum Level, Premium Membership to be the level of commitment appropriate for those interested in making a significant splash online with article marketing!

If you are serious about immediate returns, combined with long-term organic listing (SEO) then article marketing is crucial.

Not only does article marketing provide immediate traffic to your blog and/or website, it will also help you build a key aspect of any long term SEO strategy, backlinks!

I hope the video is helpful!

John

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

The August Internet Marketing Quest Revealed Newsletter was a huge success!

September’s newsletter promises to be even better and will be out the week of September 14, 2009. It is my hope you will join me as we build our subscriber base. It is my intention to continue offering the newsletter as a free service, with an eye towards building a big subscriber case and creating a free and open forum for the exchange of ideas among subscribers.

Please join us and subscribe to the newsletter! The video will describe the upcoming edition more completely, I hope you enjoy it…and and it useful!

If you would like to see any issues covered in an upcoming newsletter, just leave a comment below and I will work to make it happen!

John

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

I’ve written about excellence in marketing and in life many times over the years.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot more about what I can only classify as the pursuit of excellence. You see, the older I get the more I realize excellence is not only subjective, it is elusive. By subjective and elusive, I mean no one really gets there, not by a long shot. Interestingly, when we get close to what we perceive as excellence, and who actually decides whether we have achieved anything of the sort, someone moves the bar.

Excellence?

By who’s definition?

The truth of the matter is excellence, like learning, and even life itself, is a process rather than a singular idea, concept, event, and/or destination. Even the definition is, as stated above, subjective, meaning the word itself is an abstract construct, elusive, even an illusion!

Wikipedia defines excellence as follows:

“Excellence is the state or quality of excelling. Particularly in the field of business and organizations, excellence is considered to be an important value, and a goal to be pursued. Excellence is derived from the Latin word excellentia.

Significantly, the parts of the definition most important here are:

“excelling”

and

“a goal to be pursued.”

Excelling and a goal to be pursued! Thus implying a process, an action being taken, pursued.

So, how to we get there from here? Well, it’s kind of like the old one-liner…

”You can’t get there from here!”

Or can we?

Interestingly, once we acknowledge excellence as an abstract, a subjective ideal, it becomes easier to approach. Notice I said approach, not achieve! The fact is, in striving to achieve excellence…we may become excellent. Or, we may at least appear to be excellent!

You might say:

“That’s a contradiction!”

Well, in a way you are right. It’s a paradox, a conundrum, a logical postulation that evades resolution, an intricate and difficult problem (Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of conundrum).

However, in striving to achieve; in excelling, a process; pursuing, an active state of being; in working each and every day towards excellence, as elusive as it may be, we come as close as humanly possible to it. We are, in essence, progressing towards the ideal, the abstract, the subjective concept.

Ultimately, we are perceived by those around us as attaining a degree of excellence…rare in anyone’s world! The interesting thing about the pursuit of excellence? The ultimate conundrum in our progress towards the elusive abstraction? In this case, conundrum is defined as a riddle whose answer involves an unexpected twist.

We don’t have to be excellent!

People don’t expect perfection, often used synonymously with excellence. We simply have to demonstrate our willingness to pursue it. The progression towards perfection, towards excellence, is a lifelong endeavor, learning and growth as a process along the avenue of life.

What happens as we excel…a process? Pursue excellence…an elusive ideal?

We progress as human beings…we uplift ourselves, our associates, our business, our life! In fact, our life becomes excellent…our associations with it!
Do we ever get there?

I’ll let you know when I get there!

John

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

First, and let’s cover this right up front, I really don’t think most “gurus” care whether they impress me or not!

So, once again, let’s get that out of the way right up front. I harbor absolutely no illusions, or delusions, concerning that point…this point…whatever! Not only that, they don’t know who the heck John Zajaros is! Nor do most of them care to…they are all about the bucks!

Don’t believe me?

Try to get one on the phone some time!

I have actually had a conversation with exactly one Guru in the past year, one!

I will explain the difference between “gurus” and a Guru below.

Interestingly, I have spent hundreds, perhaps thousands, with “gurus” on their various programs, yet I have had actual contact with one! The amazing thing about that? The one GURU who did respond? I am not even a client of his!

He’s just a great guy, and a Guru! His name? James Schramko, a very cool Aussie and a genuine Guru!

If an individual is a modern-day “guru,” it won’t matter one way or the other what I think. You see, most are all about the money! A true Guru might be a bit more introspective, look within himself (I will use him generically without intending to show gender bias one way or the other) in an attempt to discover the source of the negativity, but ultimately they would probably attribute my mindset to the human condition and attempt to win me over…or at least understand me!

In the end, the former could care less, unless it adversely affects their business and then you will see a definite reaction, not based on love or understanding but purely on selfish, self-interest! The latter, while caring, understands the human condition and seeks to grow from the knowledge and the experience, perhaps even reaching out to guide, mentor, and advise (see definitions).

However, the fact is most “gurus” aren’t really “gurus” at all…they are simply savvy marketers who have adopted a particular label in order to promote themselves, their “brand,” and enhance their status…both as individuals and as marketers! The issue of whether or not someone is a legitimate Guru shouldn’t be left to the individual but should be a designation bestowed upon him by the people he touches, the lives he affects on a daily basis. The people he instructs, mentors, guides, and advises!

Here’s a question for you:

Do you think the Dalai Lama has ever referred to himself as a Guru?

Here’s another one:

Do you think Gandhi ever called himself a Guru?

In both instances, I believe we can answer with an emphatic:

“No!”
Interestingly, in the Internet marketing world the appellation of “guru” is conferred upon many whose sole claim to fame is the ability to make money! If that’s the case, I know of a few Columbians who are great at making money…they must be “gurus!”

Anyway, I thought I would examine the word itself and see where it takes us. Let’s look at Wikipedia:

“A guru…is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others (teacher). As a principle for the development of consciousness it leads the creation from unreality to reality, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge. In its purest form this principle manifests on earth as a divine incarnation (saint), a person with supreme knowledge about God and all creation.” [italics added]

Is that even close?

So, let’s look at another “authority” site, Dictionary.com:

• A preceptor giving personal religious instruction.
• An intellectual or spiritual guide or leader.

Now here’s the western influence in the Dictionary.com definition:

• Any person who counsels or advises; mentor: The elder senator was her political guru.
• A leader in a particular field: the city’s cultural gurus.

Close, and number four gets right up against it…but still no cigar!

“A leader in a particular field.”

Yet this is a relatively new addition to the definition and is explained, at least in part, at Answers.com:

“An advisor or teacher. The term, which comes from Hinduism, refers to a spiritual teacher. “Gu” means darkness, and “ru” means light; thus a guru turns ignorance into enlightenment.”

Now here is where the corruption of the term comes in…to suit a very different end:

“In the west, the term has been interpreted quite often as simply an expert in a field whether that person helps you learn or understand anything or not.” [italics added]

Aha!

There it is! The modernization of the word, the corruption to be more accurate, in order to use the appellation for one’s own benefit, a marketing ploy in this instance, used to confer status as an expert in the field, any field. Again, and with emphasis added:

“In the west, the term has been interpreted quite often as simply an expert in a field whether that person helps you learn or understand anything or not.”

OK!

If we apply the original definition, the original designation and all the status that comes with it, is there a marketing expert out there who fills the bill, the original designation of a Guru (capital “G”), a true mentor, teacher, guide, trusted counselor and adviser?

I wonder? Overall, I would have to say no! Perhaps one!

Think about this!

I recently heard an individual give a seminar on marketing and he spoke of paying another “guru” $25,000 for a day’s advice! He also confided recently that he pays another “guru” $20,000 for advice 3 times a year! That’s $45,000 for 4 days worth of advice!

That has nothing to do with mentoring…that’s BUSINESS!

How in the world does that come anywhere even close to the original definition of what a Guru is? What a mentor is? What a trusted counselor and adviser is? That is simply a business arrangement between a client and the purveyor of information!

So, if being proficient at making money makes one a “guru,” so be it! However, it doesn’t make one a Guru! And to my way of thinking, there is a huge difference between “guru,” small “g,” and Guru…no quotes and a big “G!” Just as there is a HUGE difference between thinking small and thinking BIG, between seeing a picture and seeing the BIG picture!

So what’s the point? Other than a Dennis Miller-esque rant?

Well, I guess it’s that you get what you pay for!

In this case, if the driving force in your life is money, you will have few friends and fewer people who look to you as a valued resource, a mentor and advisor.

Meaning?

Well, if every time I help someone I have my cash registering ringing, if every time I coach someone I expect to be paid, people will value me and our relationship accordingly. Meaning? It will be nothing more than a financial transaction between a marketer and his client!

However, if I put forth real effort for others with little or no expectation of immediate reward, the efforts put forth will multiply ten-fold, at least, and I will establish myself as a Guru, a valued coach and adviser, a friend! Not by MY definition but by the definition of others, the people I help as I progress through life.

Life is a process, a progression, a journey, and along the way we touch many people, we plant seeds as we grow, learn, and prosper. But prosperity is not only about financial riches, it’s about the intangibles: the hugs, the kisses, the handshakes, and the gratitude we receive for all the good we do.

If it is all about money?

Sam Walton’s last words say it better than I ever could:

“I blew it!”

One of the richest men in the country, perhaps on the planet, and he “blew it!” You have a choice, you can assign the appellation little “g” or you can earn the designation big G! How will you view the journey that is your life as it comes to a close? How many people will be sorry to see you leave this life? How many people will say they will miss you, that you touched their lives? How many people will be grateful for the help you gave them,
knowing it was about more than a $997 upsell! I wonder!

John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
JohnZ@TheQuestRevealed.com
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com (personal email)

I was in the shower and it hit me! One of those eureka moments when everything becomes crystal clear, at least until you get out of the bathroom and it leaves your brain forever. You know what I mean, kind of like what a dream does, you struggle to remember, but it’s gone forever. First of all, I guess I should explain what the heck I am talking about! You see, I seem to get some of my best ideas in the shower. I did some research with a physiologist during my stint in academia and he said it had to do with the fact that as we put our head under the nozzle and allow the water to pulsate and massage our head, the brain is being stimulated by the repetitive pulses of the shower massage. The stimulation leads to increased brain activity, the result being creative thoughts and ideas. I was impressed and thought about it for a minute or two.

After a couple of minutes back on the task we were working on, surveying 3100 skeletons in the Hamann-Todd Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, a question came to mind. Interestingly, my question then is just what you are thinking right now if you are with me on this. What about before shower massages? What happened then? He laughed and told me not to be so old-fashioned. Me? Old fashioned? Well, we both laughed and then he continued. My research partner noted that the topic had been researched thoroughly, the evidence conclusive. Who was I to argue with him, it sounded reasonable to me. He went on to talk about impulses and axons and dendrites and after about 5 minutes I knew two things: one, I was glad I was a bone guy and not a physiologist; and two, I knew he knew a whole lot more about it than I did!

Anyway, back to my revelation. I was actually thinking about a Clickbank marketing campaign I started a couple of days back, considering the target market and how to reach them. It was then that it hit me like a ton of bricks, my eureka moment! I know, but I really do a lot of my best thinking in the shower and lately all I can think about is marketing, it’s a sickness! So, all at once, the two came together in a moment of total clarity. It’s about perceptions and assumptions!

That’s right that was the moment, the revelation, and the epiphany! The thought was so intense and so amazingly clear, I got out and wrote it down else it disappear much as the dreams mentioned above vanish in a moment. Let me explain. As marketers we see the world a certain way, we make certain assumptions based on our perceptions, our observations and, if we are really good at what we do, our testing. We study, quantify, test, optimize, study, and then test again. Once we assume that we have everything pretty well knocked, a clear understanding of whatever it is we are attempting to monetize, we launch our product, service, campaign or whatever. Interestingly, we cannot test the one variable that makes everything that preceded the launch so much window dressing, the testing just this side of pseudo-science. We cannot test how people will react given their individual perceptions and assumptions.

Interestingly, the perception or perceptions, and the assumption or assumptions based on those perceptions, is precisely where the challenge rests. We base our marketing, in fact every decision we make in our lives, on the schema we bring with us through life, our own life-mind-map, if you will. The conundrum, the puzzle, the real and difficult challenge is to shed our pre-conceived notions, our perceptions and assumptions, in order to make an educated guess about what a prospective customer will do or won’t do based on their perceptions and assumptions.

So what does this mean for Internet marketers, in fact for all marketers? Well, let’s take the Clickbank example for a moment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Internet marketers, regardless of the niche, advice people to stay away from Clickbank. The Reasoning? I’ve been told, and heard others complain, that you will market your product and when people find out it’s a Clickbank product, they will go and sign up for their own account, if they don’t have one already, and take the sale and the commission for themselves. You do the marketing, someone else gets the sale! All I can say to that is that the person making that assumption, based on a certain perception, is not thinking like a prospective customer, they are thinking like an Internet marketer. Perceptions and assumptions!

Significantly, most people do not view the world as we do; and, they don’t have any desire to. The fact is most people have no idea who or what Clickbank is until they see a form with it written across the top as they are making the decision to purchase an item. Think about your first experiences online. Did you have any idea what you were doing, much less what Clickbank or Clickbooth or Commission Junction does or is? Much less know how they work? The average consumer types in a few words, ones they think might get them a bit closer to solving a problem or answering a question, and they wait for a page to crystallize in front of their eyes. They don’t know anything about sponsored links or PPC or SEO or anything else, all they know is there’s a page with some possible answers and those answers may help them solve their problem. That’s it! However, we as Internet marketers assign to our prospective clients and customers all of our own, very personal, skewed, slanted, and even biased perceptions and assumptions. Significantly, most customers just want the quickest, easiest fix for their particular issue, question or problem; and, hopefully at the lowest price possible.

So that was it, the eureka moment, the moment of clarity, the ah-ha moment. I knew then, at that precise moment, that there was nothing to worry about because I am not marketing to Internet marketers, at least not for the campaigns I am currently invested in. I am marketing to John Doe or Jane Smith and all they want is for the pain to go away or their dog to behave or to lose 15 pounds or for their little Janie or Johnny to make the soccer team or any one of a hundred or a thousand different things to happen or get fixed or have answered that have absolutely nothing to do with Internet marketing or Clickbank…they just want their problem fixed!

That was it, that was the moment and it was an amazing one for me personally. You see, I’ve become so immersed in the culture of marketing, and particularly Internet marketing, I forgot what it is like to sit in front of a monitor, not having a clue how to turn the darn thing on, much less try to get the answer I needed. Going back to that mindset was an amazing moment, because it helped me to reshape my thinking and to understand once again what it is like to be on the other side of the transaction; and, on the other side of the learning curve. Our perceptions, based on certain assumptions, must be shed if we are to be effective marketers. It is about more than empathy, it is about being able to step outside yourself and view a situation from both perspectives, without making any assumptions! It is something like what we call an emic and etic perspective in anthropology, the ability to view a situation from different perspectives in order to achieve a clearer understanding of the individual, the society in which he or she resides, and the culture they are a part of, and how that all comes together to shape an individual’s schema or life-mind-map. If you can read that map, you are going to be successful beyond belief. If you are a lousy navigator, I suggest you learn how to read a map. Or? Take up glass blowing, it may be more profitable!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com
Join me on Twitter!

I received a message from a facebook friend. I belong to several groups, some are good, some are vehicles for spam…I get out of them fast! The man who sent me this is usually quite good about sending reliable information and not spamming, he is usually dead-on as far and insights and content. I got this message and I have enclosed the message and my response…and a few notes on the side.

By the way, this is not a knock on the group, it is a quality group, nor the gentleman, he seems like a great guy!

Message begins:

“Hi, John Doe (name changed) here.

Here’s a little thing I’ve noticed recently…

Now, I’ve learned amazing things in my 10 years in the home business industry. Life-changing things.

Here’s a quirky one that makes me giggle.

It’s this…

A. People loves to reference ‘Think and Grow Rich’ as their favorite book.
B. Most of those same people have never read it.

Now, I’m not here to judge you if you haven’t. (It truly is gold.)

Sure, the language in it is a little stiff, but the principles are what success are based on. Hands down. No fluff or filler.

So, here’s my time-saving gift for you…
All of Napoleon Hill’s Success Principles…in one place.

http://his product.com

Print it out and put it on your wall.

Rock and roll,
John Doe (name changed to protect the innocent)
Direct: XXX-XXX-XXXX (someone after my own heart, he puts his phone number on his stuff!)

http://XXXXXXXXXXXX.net

P.S. I live [X] blocks away from Michael Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and It’s been a complete mad house over here. Proof that one person CAN absolutely impact the entire world. The next person to do it could be you. ”

Message ends!

My response:

I wonder why it makes you giggle? Is it just that they haven’t read it or that they are “faking it until they make it,” something the “gurus” have told them to do? Clearly, many of the “fakers” don’t have a clue about the real power of the work…but then I wonder how many “gurus” do either?

I first read Think and Grow Rich after watching Zig Ziglar and J.Douglas Edwards speak years ago, decades ago! It is still with me. The real power of the book in the underlying theme, the unwritten lesson. Like you mentioned in your comment about Michael Jackson, and the impact one person can have on the world, Napoleon Hill was fortunate enough to have a mentor, someone who was wiling to say “Do this… and I will show you the way!” Andrew Carnegie changed Napoleon Hill’s life. Or at least Carnegie provided the vehicle for Napoleon Hill to change his own life. Infinitely more valuable!

Carnegie didn’t say, “Do this and I will show you the way. by the way, that will be 5 easy payments of $497! Or one payment of $97 and, by the way, here’s this one time offer!”

Carnegie said, “Spend the time, do the research, and I will reward your efforts with something of far greater value than money!”

I wonder how many Napoleon Hills are out there without the money for the upsell and the irresistible one-time-offer? A “guru” willing to get paid based on the if-come? Ha! Never happen! Not with the current crop of mentors and “gurus!”

Interestingly, it is precisely the pursuit of riches that most readers take from the work, the main idea or lesson. Yet Hill clearly states that is not where the real treasure lies!

I guess I was just perplexed by the “giggle” comment. Contrary to a “giggle,” I am almost saddened when I think of how profound an impact the work has had and how so many people have it dead wrong!

John

Response ends!

He Messaged Back!

“Good call, brother John. I should have worded this better. My giggle is the head shaking, “you guys are missing out” kind.

My life has been transformed by Hill’s principles. It seems ludicrous to me that people will reference the book as a favorite, but have never cracked it open.

And like you, it drives me nuts when someone thinks buying one ebook will quickly and easily show them the way. The lessons are learned in doing the thing. And man, doesn’t is seem like all our best stories are from those times we fumbled through it?

Loved hearing your piece of mind.

I saw Zig one time live. Boy, he is a master of owning the stage. (I also get a kick out of when he refers to his wife as “The Redhead.”)

John Doe”

His Response Ends!

I Followed Up!

Well said! Have a great night!

More like a chuckle than a giggle. I know what you mean now.

I think the key is in the title! “THINK” and grow rich! Most people are simply absent the “THINK” in the message, focusing solely on the riches.
Of course, they will never get it, the message or rich…but that’s what makes the world go around, I guess!

Take care!

John

Response Ends!

I added a couple of comments within the first response but it is 95% as written. The second part is 100% us! I wonder what Napoleon Hill or for that matter Andrew Carnegie would have to say about the interpretation many have applied as gospel? The gospel according to Napoleon Hill! I would be willing to bet the man is spinning in his grave. If Napoleon Hill could, I will bet you he would shout from the tree tops, for all to hear:

“You’ve got it all wrong!”

The fact is, many do have it wrong! There are key words many readers seem to have missed or simply do not get!

Words like:

Pursuit
Conceive
Achieve
Believe
Burning Desire
Mastermind

and so many more!

Think about the words in the context he used them, in the context of the day! The history of the times! Not how we shape them but how they were intended…as a guide, a process, and a journey!

There is no ultimate destination, other than death!

Success, and in fact life is all a process, a discovery process, a lifetime PURSUIT!

Success is the pursuit of a worthwhile or worthy ideal or goal!

The goal is simply a stepping stone to the next goal and the next worthwhile pursuit!

A goal is a single event in a lifetime full of PURSUITS, endeavors, journeys, and processes!

Riches are not a destination, they may be a reflection of how effectively you translate action into dollars, time into money. But they are in fact only a reflection, and not a very good one!

The destination? The goal? To live life fully and without remorse! Full of hope, and faith (in something, anything!), and love!

A successful life as one individual sees it, may not be a successful life for another. If success is viewed in terms on dollars?

Mother Teresa died a failure!

Success is the worthwhile pursuit of an ideal, a QUEST! When you look back upon your life, that is when:

The Quest is Revealed!

Will you die serene and fulfilled, as Mother Teresa did?

Or will you die one of the richest people on the planet, whose final words were:

“I blew it!” Sam Walton

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com
http://johnzajaros.com
http://ultimateinternetimage.com
and about 30 more!