Questions & Answers

Success Journey #1: In the first "Success Journey" (originally called a "Case Study"), Frederick Mann interacts with "Freeagent." This Success Journey has a dual purpose. First, to provide guidance to Freeagent that will hopefully help him get to a point where he earns enough online so he can quit his day job. Second, for Frederick Mann to find out what it might take for someone like Freeagent to advance from where he is now to a point where he earns enough online so he can quit his day job.

11/18/08 -- We start with some questions and answers:

FM: How long have you been working on trying to make money online?

Freeagent: Since 1999.

FM: How much would you need to make online to enable you to quit your day job?

Freeagent: $5,000 per month.

FM: 3. How much are you currently earning online?

Freeagent: $200 per month on average.

FM: Do you think that in addition to building a certain level of online earnings, you also need to accumulate a capital sum before you quit your day job? If so, what should this amount be?

Freeagent: $60,000.

FM: What do you think you need to do that will make it possible for you to quit your day job?

Freeagent: Find a solid, sustainable money-making program -- and stick to it.

FM: 6. What do you think is the most important factor that has been preventing you from getting to the point of being able to quit your day job?

Freeagent: Finding a good, low-cost, systematic plan to follow.

FM: Do you have a systematic plan to reach your online earning goals?

Freeagent: No.

11/20/08:

FM: I suggest as a next step that you look over BGRSS with an attempt to identify the one or two things that have held you back most.

Alternatively, you may look for the one or two things, that if you focus on improving them, will provide you with the greatest returns for your efforts invested.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance on how to proceed.

1/8/09: Presumably, the above was enough for Freeagent to become successful, or he decided to seek success elsewhere, or he gave up!

Success Journey #2: In the second "Success Journey" Frederick Mann interacts with "M.A.K.Y."

7/20/09:

M.A.K.Y.: I live in India. I saw your name on the Contests Page at AdVentures 4U. I hope you can teach me some of the ways to recruit as many people as you do.

I've read Pay the Price to Rise Above Your Success Threshold and liked it a lot...

I'm a software engineer by profession. Lost my job recently -- hit by recession. Have been struggling to find a new job. A friend told me that we can make money on the Internet. ...I finally decided to work online to earn some money. I'm still in the process of learning exactly how we can earn money online. Have been trying hard for 5 months, but I could only get up to earning about $200 per month.

I've been reading a lot about people making thousands of dollars every month. I wonder how they can do it. I wish I could reach that level one day... My goal is to earn up to $10K per month. I strongly desire to achieve complete financial freedon and time freedom. Somewhere down the line after few years I wish to see myself as one of the well-known Internet moneymakers...

FM: It may be worth identifying the one or two most important skills you need to develop in order to achieve your goals. What do you think they might be?

What marketing methods have you tried?

7/22/09:

M.A.K.Y.:Well, people whom I ran across so far always keep telling me "Money is in the List"... So I strongly feel that building my own list should be one of the most important factors to make money and achieve my goals. But I am yet to know how to build a list.

I have been promoting some of the businesses that I am in... I am using SafeList Marketing, Traffic Exchanges, Classifieds, Social Networking, but not happy with the results. I keep repeating them daily but still no success with the referrals.

FM: You may want to check out whatever you can find on list building on the following pages:

• THE MPL EASY-MONEY SYSTEM!
• THE MPL AUTOMATIC MARKETING SYSTEM!
• MPL Member Area

Part of your list-building activities could be to build your MPL downline, and treat these people as prospects to promote to repeatedly.

Testing is most important. Check out in the MPL Member Area ("URL Tracking Codes") how to test.

With SafeList Marketing it's important to use headlines that attract attention. Check out the above pages for some ideas and examples. Testing is most important, so you can find out what works.

Check out the Marketing Training Programs on THE MPL AUTOMATIC MARKETING SYSTEM!

With Traffic Exchanges it's important that you use Splash Pages that "stand out from the crowd" and attract attention. It's also important that your Splash Pages load quickly. A correspondent recently told me: "My Ad Stats show the Ema1a Splash Page getting the most hits out of several URLs listed. There's something very aluring about that woman."

See also "MPL Easy-Marketing System."

It's vital that you Test to find out what works and what works best. Check out in the MPL Member Area ("URL Tracking Codes") how to test.

Regarding Classifieds, I suggest you find some Marketing Forums and post questions to look for people who are using Classifieds successfully and are willing to share their success with you. (You may be able to add people who respond to your Prospect List.)

Regarding Social Networking, once you're operating at a considerably higher level of success, would be a good time to use this form of marketing.

It's important to realize that you've been operating below your "Success Threshold" -- see Pay the Price to Rise Above Your Success Threshold.

Please feel free to report the actions you take and the results you achieve. You're also welcome to ask questions.

FM: (8/22/09): I didn't hear further from "M.A.K.Y." I saw his name near the top of a leaderboard in a sponsoring contest, so I assume he found the above useful.

Comments & Suggestions

It may be worth checking out Personal Competence and Power Shift (PCAPS) and doing a self-assessment of where your "Win-Lose Switch" is set.

Next, you may want to check out Basic Success Technique #4: Discover & Confront Where You Are!.

WHY DO PEOPLE FAIL?

by Jim Straw (edited)

There has been much written, and said, about why and how people succeed. The contention being that, in order to succeed, you must learn, and then apply, the principles and techniques used by others who have gained success.

But, knowing the principles and techniques used by others who have gained success doesn't qualify a person to succeed. If it did, all of those who have read and studied the various, and many, books, booklets, plans, and programs on the subject of SUCCESS would, by virtue of their knowledge thereof, be successful.

Statistically, 98% of the people in this country never reach a level of anything more than sustained mediocrity; only 2% ever really achieve success. -- WHY?

The answer is simple. -- They have never "qualified" for success, because they refuse to "pay their dues." [See Pay the Price to Rise Above Your Success Threshold.]

These people (the 98%) are so wrapped-up in "protecting" and "maintaining" the level of mediocrity they have achieved that they will not risk one iota of what they have. [See Programmed for Mediocrity.]

It's like the young boy who, at long last, got his first pair of really fine shoes.

Now, these shoes were exceptionally fine. So fine, in fact, that the boy spent many hours wiping and shining them - while keeping them safe from scuffs, neatly wrapped in paper, in their box under his bed.

A number of opportunities presented themselves for the boy to wear the shoes, but he chose to safe-guard them and wore his older shoes instead. After all, if he wore them, he would run the risk of scuffing them or dulling their glittering shine.

When the day finally arrived, when the occasion was most important, the boy learned, to his disappointment, that his feet had grown and the shoes no longer fit him. (I gave that pair of shoes to a more needy neighbor -- and, from that day forward, I have never again been afraid to lose anything.)

Unfortunately, most people are like that boy. -- They read all of the books, booklets, plans, and programs about the principles and techniques used by others to gain success. As the boy did with the shoes, they let the opportunities to use what they have learned pass them by -- or, they make a half-hearted start, but never continue past their first small and futile attempts.

Why do they hold back? -- Because they fear losing what little they have. They "protect" their meager and mediocre position so well that they never lose it.

At retirement age, those people look back with pride at the fact that they have ventured little and lost nothing. But, not unlike the boy and his shoes, they learn, to their disappointment, that that which they protected so well will not sustain them after their retirement and they are forced to seek aid and assistance from their government, family and friends.

Those people have never "qualified" for anything better, because they have never "paid their dues."

If you haven't, yet, gained success, look around you. What are you protecting? If you lost it all tomorrow, would you really lose anything of great value?

People fail, not because they cannot succeed, but because they are unwilling to risk what they have. They "protect" their mediocrity until it is all they have left.

The struggle to achieve success is not unlike any great battle in any war. -- The victorious army is always the one that gives up the position it has won in order to advance against a better, more advantageous position. Only the losing army stands and defends a mediocre position.

A young Lieutenant once asked a wise General, "Why should we try so hard to reach a position at the top of the hill? As we charge up the hill, our enemies will surely take the positions behind us, and we will lose what we have gained; even if we take the hill."

The General, a very wise man, replied, "Yes -- but, it is much easier to charge downhill. When we have taken the higher position, we will charge back down the hill and recover all that we have lost. Then, we will charge down the other side of the hill."

The people who make up the 2% who achieve success are forever charging up the hill -- losing all behind them -- and then charging back down the hill, on both sides, to regain anything they may have lost and achieve even more success.

Not unlike the losing army, most people will never succeed, because it would mean that they would have to give up the mediocre position they have protected for so long.

In order to succeed, you must first "lose" your mediocrity. -- Success doesn't happen any other way.

YOU GOTTA DO IT!

by Jim Straw (edited)

There is NO "secret" to success. -- And, that's the problem.

Most people who say they want to succeed, go around all their life looking for some "secret" that people like me are sure to know. They just know that if they ever learn that "secret" they will be successful, too. -- Ain't gonna happen because there ain't any secret.

All they need to do is start "doing" something. -- That's all it takes. -- Once they start "really" doing something ... other than searching for the "secret" to success ... whatever they are doing will expand and grow into the success for which they couldn't find the secret.

Over the past nearly 50 years in business, I have heard it thousands upon thousands of times from "success secret seekers" ...

"I ain't gonna get into no nickle and dime business. I want to make millions, not nickles and dimes."

So, they keep buying what they think are "secrets." They never "do" anything, longer than it takes to find out they didn't learn any secrets, they just learned how to "work" at something ... instead of making them rich. Then, they go on to the next "secret," hoping against hope that the new secret will "give" them the riches they seek (without doing anything other than knowing the "secret").

The funny thing is, they all seem to think they are better than me ... and all the other successful people ... because they honestly think that I just woke up one morning, learned the secret, and made a fortune. When, in pure fact, I started selling nickle and dime items, door to door, in my youth ... selling one item to one customer, one sale at a time, making a nickle or a dime on each sale.

As I matured, my endeavors expanded and grew ... changed course ... adapted to the ever changing economy ... moved onward and upward. Each instance of my growth predicated upon providing what my potential customers needed or wanted. Making sure that I gave more value in return for the value I received - and - even today, I still sell one item to one customer, one sale at a time.

The VAST MAJORITY of people who say they want to succeed, only want to succeed if they can make it all at once ... just one sale won't do it. They want big sales, or thousands of sales, immediately. -- So, when a new opportunity only produces a few sales, they move on rather than making those few sales over and over and over and over ... until those few sales have grown into thousands upon thousands of sales.

Most of them are looking for someone to help them do it, rather than looking for the tools they need to do it themselves.

If you want to succeed, "do" something. Let what you are "doing" lead you onward and upward until you have the success you seek. -- There are NO "secrets" to it.

P.S. -- Many people know the facts. -- Many people have the talent. -- Many people have the need. -- Many people have what it takes. -- But ... very, very few succeed because they are seeking the "secret" to success rather than doing something.

"The work will teach you how to do it." -- Estonian Proverb

WHINERS VS. DOERS

by Marlon Sanders (edited)

Two kinds of people.

Whiners. They whine. They complain. They bitch. They moan.

They act like the world owes them something.

That gurus are all out to scam them.

That gurus owe them freebie products and maybe if they succeed they'll fork over money.

These people have a victim attitude about life. They are the VICTIMS of gurus or other people. They do NOT take responsibility for their own actions.

They spend $5,000, $10,000, $50,000 and have NOT made a dime and it's all someone else's fault.

You know why a lot of "gurus" don't enjoy the guru business? Because of people who blame the guru for their lack of success. Just like blaming the President or the economy if you don't have a job.

If this is YOU, you do NOT need to buy anything from me. You need to do one and only ONE thing.

Go buy Atlas Shrugged. It's at your bookstore. Buy it new. Buy it used. Read every page. Yeah, it's a LOT of pages. That's because you NEED a lot of pages to get this stinkin' thinkin' out of your brain.

Ain't no Internet marketing book, course, seminar or system gonna help you. Go read Atlas Shrugged.

ARE YOU A DABBLER?

by Jim Straw (edited)

Over the past 50 years, I have been thrilled and delighted to see hundreds of people succeed in business -- but -- I have watched sadly as literally thousands of people have achieved little or no success.

There are a multitude of common characteristics among those who succeed -- but -- there seems to be only one glaring common characteristic among those who achieve little or no success. That characteristic is simply never deciding upon one single plan of action and sticking with it day-in and day-out. They never achieve any success by doing a little of this, a little of that. -- They are, in effect, dabblers in business.

Back in 1987, a young man in Arkansas bought one of my $10 reports. It wasn't a fancy business idea but the young man took the idea and did it; over and over through thick and thin. Today, it still produces from $25,000 to $30,000 per month for him... he calls it his bread and butter business.

From his bread and butter business, he had money enough to pursue bigger and bigger business deals. -- Today, he is no longer a young man... but he is a multi-millionaire; many times over. -- SO...

If you really, truly, honestly and sincerely want to succeed, pick one business. Keep doing it day-in and day-out... even during the tough times when the business appears to be failing. That's when your success will begin... it's also when most people quit.

There are very, very few opportunities that couldn't be the "best" for someone. It is all a matter of persistence.

Look around you. There are millionaires in every field of business endeavor. There are millionaire garbage collectors... millionaire bankers... millionaire shop keepers... millionaire day-care operators... millionaire Internet marketers... etc., etc., etc.

As Albert Einstein said, "Anyone can be a genius, if they pick just one specific subject and study it diligently just 15 minutes each day."

The same holds true in business. -- Just pick one specific business. Do it every day until you do it successfully.

Most people don't fail, they just fail to stick with any ONE thing until they have mastered it.

As Benjamin Disraeli said, "The secret to success is the constancy of purpose."

Do yourself a favor, pick something and do it until you can do it right.

DENIAL OF INCOMPETENCE
(and/or STUPIDITY)

by Frederick Mann

Email from a correspondent (edited):

"I have been following you for years since Bigbooster, and lately I have read about your success on AdVentures 4U. I have never made a penny from the internet. So I am asking advice from you on what I need to do in order to start with AV4U and suceed. I am not stupid, but need step-by-step guidence..."

I offered this person the opportunity to participate in a "Success Journey," but received no response.

Many people have been programmed for jobs where they are told what to do -- "step-by-step guidence" -- but to fail if they try something where they have to think for themselves -- see Programmed for Mediocrity and Dumbed Down by "Education."

This article could have been titled simply: "DENIAL OF STUPIDITY." If someone has tried for years to make money online, without success, does that imply incompetence, stupidity, or both? When the correspondent writes, "I am not stupid," does that imply the denial of incompetence, stupidity, or both?

Stupidity and its denial could be a "Make-or-Break Issue" (MBI) for many people -- something you need to confront and handle first, in order to improve your life, health, finances, etc. You may want to get and study at least the first of the following books:

• People are Idiots and I Can Prove It!: The 10 Ways You Are Sabotaging Yourself and How You Can Overcome Them by Larry Winget;
• Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto;
• Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free by Charles P. Pierce;
• Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth about the American Voter by Rick Shenkman.

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

You may want to Google "stupidity" and "overcoming stupidity." The picture below is of Andy Green who was featured in an article in the Yorkshire Evening Post on 22nd July 2009. Green says:

It may be important to realize that the profits of some corporations -- particularly drug companies -- depend partly or largely on the stupidity of their customers -- see A Few Health Basics.

If you read Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth about the American Voter by Rick Shenkman, you could ask: "To what extent does the political power of those at the top depend on the stupidity of voters?"

When a political commentators say, "The public is intelligent (or isn't stupid)," are they lying through their teeth -- or are they stupider than the public?"

Chapter 9 of Shenkman's book is titled: "We Can't Even Talk About How Stupid We Are."