“Success is just around the next corner…

You may have heard that statement many times, and if you’re a new online business owner you may have doubts about ever seeing that success because there seems to be so much to do.  And yes, it can be confusing and daunting unless you have someone to guide you.

I remember when I first started online, in one of the first classes I took we were told we could model the trainer’s optin page, which was great as it would have reduced a lot of planning and designing.  However, I had no idea how to get that site from my computer to the Internet.  I’d never heard of FTP and wouldn’t have known what to do with it. Have you faced any situation like that in your business to date?

It’s important to believe that you can experience success in your online business.  Adopting the following five “attitudes” for success can play a significant role in  finding your success around the corner regardless of how deep the corner is:

Have a Positive Attitude:  It’s important to cultivate a positive attitude in how you approach your online business and in your life in general.  ‘Cultivate’ means that this attitude may not come naturally; you may have to work very hard to achieve it.  You may have to change your mindset and learn positive thinking, then nourish it as it grows.

Develop a Business Mentality:  While there are some internet marketers who had successful offline business and are now transferring those skills online, the majority of persons who start an online business had no previous business training.  Research indicates that people who succeed are people who approach their online business with a business mentality instead of treating it as if it were a hobby.  Allocate time to work in your business at the outset so eventually you can work on your business.  Identify what you need to do on a regular basis and set a schedule of when to do it.

Have Fun With Your Business:  This may sound like a contradiction to the previous point, but is not.  When you enjoy doing what you need to do, it will not feel like work.  Take time to find the fun in your business so you’ll enjoy doing the things that make for success.  Be excited about taking action to move forward.

Expect Success:  There is thin line between success and failure.  Persons the world over have sabotaged their success by thinking they could never achieve success like So and So.  Invariably we compare ourselves with someone who is doing very well forgetting that they likely were at the point new business owners are at right now.  Their success was as a result of identifying what to do, how to do it, getting help from a Mentor or a coach to provide guidance.

Be Realistic:  While success may be just around the corner, it does not come overnight.  You must be realistic about how quickly your business will grow.  There are no shortcuts and any thoughts of getting rich on the Internet in a short time will only lead to disappointment. Work is required and sticking to one thing and getting good at it before moving to the next thing will lay a foundation for success.

Starting an online business can be challenging, but working with someone who has been where you are and is willing to hold your hand and guide you forward can help to give you the momentum to move your business forward in 2012.  Celene Harrelson will do that in her new membership program as she covers more than 12 steps to increase your momentum and take you to profit.  Check out Celene’s program at http://yoursuccessbiz.com/celenepm.  By adopting these 5 attitudes for success, coupled with the training Celene provides, the new online business owner can experience success just around the corner.

If you were to ask most marketers or online business owners what is the first step they’d recommend in starting on online business, most would likely say that you need to determine your market  and decide on a niche.

That is an important element in starting your online business, but there are two elements that are critical to your online business success.

1.  MINDSET: Starting an online business can be done on a shoestring budget and you do need at the very least a simple plan.  However, it’s important to keep in mind that:

• An online business is no less a business than starting one offline.
• You must know your “Why” for starting your business and determine what your goals will be
• Do research online in your area of expertise to see what is already being offered and what is missing.  This will help you to decide how you can fill any gaps so that you can set yourself apart.  That will be your Unique Selling Proposition or Point (USP).
• If you are new to entrepreneurship you will need to make a mental shift to develop the mind of a business owner who will be responsible for decision-making and goal-setting, as well as all the expenses of the business.

2.  FOCUS: Many of us who have had an online business for some time still struggle to avoid the “Shiny Objects Syndrome,” which can come from distractions such as e-mails and their attachments.  There’s much to be learned from experienced marketers, but you have to make the decision on the times that you will give laser-focus to your business to the exclusion of all else.

Keep in mind that in the beginning you may need to spend 30-40 hours each week working in and on your business, but the payoff comes faster when you apply this focused energy to your online business.

In his book, Take Action! Revise Later: A Simple Guide to Success in Business” , Bob “the Teacher” Jenkins discusses how to successfully battle the Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS) in Chapter 8.  He wrote that chapter just for me! In Chapter 20 he makes recommendations on how to “Get Control Over E-mail” which I found very helpful.

I strongly recommend that you get your personal copy of Take Action! Revise Later: A Simple Guide to Success in Business” as this is a valuable resource to keep handy as you enjoy online business success.

Featured “Monday Writer” – Melanie Kissell

This week I received a fabulous and totally unexpected surprise in my inbox – not the typical kind of mail I’m accustomed to weeding through every day.

Sheri Kaye Hoff of Life Is Joyful invited me to be a presenter in her Fall Success Summit.  Welcomed opportunities like this don’t come down the pike every day!

Now please don’t run away – this is not a pitchfest.

This is a prime example of what can happen when you understand how your business blog can bring you the successful results you’re looking for.

The biggest goal for business blogging is never give up – keep blogging!

We all want to be successful at what we do, but we must remember that to have a successful online presence takes time, as well as a considerable amount of energy, determination, and passion.  A willy-nilly approach will lead you straight down Disappointment Avenue.

So what’s the big secret to business blogging success?

Simple – Just keep adding logs to the fire.

Not only do you need to keep the embers burning with your target audience and your loyal readers, you need to make a heart-centered, conscious effort to connect with other bloggers.

Establish a “core” of bloggers in your niche or industry and start building community.

Just do it!  It works.

Read their posts, leave worthwhile and valuable comments, subscribe to their RSS or opt in to receive their freebie offer, invite them to be a guest blogger, follow them on social media venues, brainstorm with them, link to their posts when possible, and ask what you can do to help them.

In other words, to keep the fire burning …

“Engagement” and “Interaction” with the authors of blogs in your area of expertise and what you’re passionate about are the two best strategies for business blogging success.

If you’re interested, here’s a Free Blogging Tips E-book by James King.  I am not affiliated with James in any way and there’s NO opt in required.  I just happen to think he’s got some doggone good advice that can help you enjoy more positive and long lasting results with your blog.

Melanie Kissell

“Attending to your personal survival as a woman entrepreneur”

Melanie shares blogging tips and budget-friendly marketing strategies with tenacious and passionate women entrepreneurs who are short on time, exhausted, and tapped out financially. Stop by and knock on her door at Solo Mompreneur.

Featured "Monday Writer"

Featured “Monday Writer”

– Judy Mick

In business and in life, being motivated (and positively motivated) is the most important characteristic you can have.  There are many ways you can build motivational habits on a daily basis.  Habits can be hard in the beginning, but give it 30 days and see how naturally they come!

1.  Have visual motivators. These are extremely important because your surroundings create the attitude you have every day.  A few things that you can post on your wall or your computer include:  positive quotes, a beach house you want to buy, a motivational calendar, etc.  Anything that makes you feel good.  I admit to all of the above!

2.  Stay around positive people. Your friends should be people who build you up, make you feel good and support your endeavors.   If you have a friend who always shoots you down, makes you feel bad about yourself……don’t hang out with them.  Or, you could ask them why they are always so negative – maybe they don’t realize that they are.  Just make sure you are around positive, supportive people.

3.  Read or listen to motivational and inspirational things daily. These will help you strengthen your mind and build up your confidence.

4.  Positive Self-Talk. Write down some positive affirmations and repeat them to yourself daily.  It makes you feel good about yourself and gets your mind on the right track for success.

5.  Keep Up a Positive Attitude. Always remain positive.  As soon as you stop thinking that life is so difficult – you will find it becomes easier.  Try to see the bright side of every situation.  “Stuff” happens.  Things you’re working on don’t always go as planned.  It’s how you deal with it that determines your success.

6. Share Your Attitude. Once you become a positive, motivated person – share your attitude with others.  Be contagious!  You’ll find that when you share your positiveness and passions – you will be driven to accomplish more.

Remember – attitude is a choice.  Pick a good one!

Judy

Judy Mick is a wife, avid runner, blogger, entrepreneur, positive thinker and lover of life!  Follow her exploits on her blogs at www.judy-mick.com and www.thestreakingrunner.com

Sales has long been regarded as a numbers game because your success depends on selling small amounts to many persons or selling large amounts to a smaller number of people.

It would not be incorrect to conclude that marketing is also a numbers game, and this is especially true of Affiliate Marketing.  You also need large numbers of targeted prospects to see your offers and click on your affiliate link so you can make money online.  How does the Know, Like and Trust factor encourage others to click on your affiliate links?

It has often  been stated  that people do business with those whom they’ve come to know, like and trust.  So while Affiliate Marketing is great for beginners to internet marketing, you’ll become more successful as you build relationships over time.

An effective starting point is with a blog where you provide posts and articles that offer answers to questions and solutions to concerns your readers may have.  Through your posts, your readers will get to know you as your personality and authenticity are reflected in your writing style and quality.

Over time when your readers  see that you’re willing to provide valuable content for free, they are more apt to click on your affiliate links and purchase products through you.  This is because they now trust you that you would recommend only what you’ve personally used and got benefit from, or at the very least know the quality of previous work produced by the marketer you are an affiliate for.

How has the know, like and trust factor proven to be helpful in your online business?  Please share.

If you are just starting out online, or maybe in the first three months you may be considered a ‘young online entrepreneur”.  You probably feel intimidated much like a young child who starts attending a new school in the middle of the semester.  Everyone seems to know someone else or have a large following, but no one knows who you are.

I can relate to how you feel because I felt the same way when I started my online business.  What I found out, through observation and training,  is that if you are willing to do what it takes, you can expand your reach and establish your credibility online fairly quickly.  Unfortunately I was not aware of some of the points I’m about to share until quite some time after I’d started my first blog.

1.   Start or re-commit to your blog:  Many people, including offline small business owners or entrepreneurs, hear the word blog and it conjures images of what blogs originally were: somewhat like an ongoing diary of events, or blurbs of what you’re doing.  Not anymore. Blogs have evolved into valuable websites managed by people who have information to share with others.

2.   Your blog is your hub or can be compared to your ‘home’ on the internet.  Just as you would want to keep you home attractive and appealing so that guests will want to visit with you and return, so you’ll want to make your blog visually appealing and easy to navigate.  Make sure that your name is somewhere on your blog as the author.  It can be frustrating to visit a blog and find no information on the owner and the posts just say “by Admin.”

3.   Creating great content is essential.  Build the “wow!” factor by giving your readers valuable information in your posts.

4.   When your readers leave a comment, acknowledge and thank them.  They did not have to do this.  If someone asks a question, no matter how trite it may appear to be to you, make sure to reply as this will show that you really care about people and respect those who choose to visit your blog and are looking to you for more information.  At the same time, you establish your own credibility when you do so.

5.   Become a part of the blogosphere. You may find this confusing because it’s understood at this point that you have a blog; but there is more involved.  The blogosphere is made up of many bloggers in various niches where people with  similar or complimentary niches connect or link with each other.

To be part of the blogosphere you will need to leave your ‘home’ and visit other people’s ‘homes’, which means visiting other blogs, leave meaningful comments, and place your link on their blogs.  You’ll find that many of these bloggers will reciprocate by visiting your blog and leaving comments as well.

This is a great way to establish your credibility and help others to get to know you.  When I visit other blogs I often take the time to read comments on a post.  I’ll sometimes click on the name of someone whose comment I found interesting to learn more about them and I’m usually taken to their blog.  The same will be true for you.  Think of this as one aspect of networking on the internet.

Would you like to discover more tips on how easy it is to build a blog to give you massive visibility, attract people and establish your credibility online?  Click on  http://mysuccesscircleonline.com/VideoSeries now then share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Millions of people turn on their computer every day with the hope of making a good income online.  Many do so for the very first time because they’ve heard stories of people making money online and they want to capture their share.  The statistics are rather alarming as to the failure of many of these start-ups as it’s been said that 90 percent of these new businesses fail within the first 120 days.

People are making money online, but in order to be sure that you are not one of those who fall into those statistics, let’s look at three myths and how to avoid them:

Myth #1: When I work for myself I have total freedom; I no longer have a boss:

• True, when you work for yourself you do enjoy more freedoms, but freedom is relative, not total.    You will have freedom to choose the hours that you work, but you do have to work at and in your business. You may find that in the beginning you may need to put in almost 40 hours in working for yourself to get your business to the point where you can work only 2-3 hours per day.

• Regarding the myth that you no longer have a boss, you would be highly mistaken.  YOU are your boss!  You will no longer have someone else prodding you and telling you what you need to do, but you will need to adopt the mindset of a boss very quickly.  You will be required to make decisions that will affect your business, yourself, and your family, if applicable.  Developing management skills like, time management, decision-making, and goal-setting skills will be essential to your success.

Myth #2: I’m not starting a business in a store or other brick and mortar location so I do not need to have a business plan:

• Not having a business plan is a roadmap for failure right from the get-go.  I can confirm this from my own experience.  When I first started online in 2008 I had no solid plan for where I wanted my business to go.  I had a successful business offline and was not sure whether I wanted to bring this business online or go in another direction.  As a result I floundered for about six months.

• Starting a business online is like any other business and the principles and guidelines of business must be followed in order to succeed.  You need to determine what your goals are for the business that you are starting online and what your focus area or niche will be in so that you will know where you’re heading and what steps you’ll need to take to get there.

• It’s understood that if you are new to making money online you may not be able know what to expect and what you need to do in all areas.  That is why it’s important to spend some time doing research before you decide to develop a plan and launch a business to make money online.

Myth #3: The Internet offers a level playing field for ‘anyone’ to get rich quickly:

• It is possible to make money on the internet.  Many people with legitimate businesses do so every day.  What you may not be told by some of these people that it did not happen overnight.  For some it took years of hard work to build their income to where it is today.  You will not know what stretegies they may have had to implement and how many thousands of dollars they lost before they finally saw success.

• The Internet does offer a playing field but it’s only level if you have all the facts and are willing to do the work rather than fall victim to those who would readily help you to part from your money.  Do not allow the promise of making fast money to lure you into parting with your money.  Only a very minute percentage of people make it big overnight, and these are usually people who were already successful offline and has just transferred their skills and network to the online world.

Getting started in your online business the correct way is the key.  Click here to get a free report that gives 7 specific steps to get your business up online and profitable in a short time.

One of the things I’ve had on the wall in my home office for several years is a poem that I found a long time ago.  Every now and again I need to remind myself of why I need to focus on  goals that I’ve set in various aspects of my life and the poem reminds me.  I’d like to share it as you may find that it encourages you as well.  Unfortunately I’ve never been able to find who the author is but if you’ve seen it before and know, please share.

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE DREAMERS WITH GOALS

Your dreams are you vision of where you’ll be after the battle,
your prize at the end of your journey to success.
Your goals are the steps you take to finally attain your prize.

Unless you’re willing to work hard and establish some discipline in your life,
all of your dreams will be pipe dreams,
little mental fantasy trips that will never materialize.

Make concrete steps toward fulfilling your ultimate dream,
and start with solid objectives and goals.

Your dreams are where you want to go,
your goals are how you get there.

The indispensable first step
to getting the things you want out of life is this:
Decide what you want.

Don’t be afraid to think big and dare to be great.
Dreamers are not content with mediocrity.
They never dream of going halfway.
People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.

Are you a dreamer or a goal-setter?  Dream big, but set the goal to achieve the dream!

A clump is a knot or tight cluster of people or things.  It’s a natural tendency in humans to want to stay in groups with   whom they feel comfortable – either people you already know or those with whom you share similar interests.

There are times when staying within your clumps or tight cluster may not be a good idea.  Business events like large training groups, business functions and local networking events usually create opportunities for exposure, networking, building connections and, of course, taking advantage of learning opportunities from others.

If you congregate with just your known circle, you are not allowing yourself to make meaningful connections. You may also have the  type of product or service someone else at the event needs.  You could unknowingly prevent others from  getting to know you.

Breaking out of your clumps or clusters may be challenging especially if you are shy,  but it can be done. When planning to attend any event, try to develop the mindset of a host who has to circulate among everyone in the room just to be sure they are comfortable.

This could mean asking yourself, Who can I help to establish new contacts? Which two people can I introduce to each other, or whose business would likely benefit by being connected to another? Or even, Which speaker impacted me that I can give a sincere compliment to? People enjoy feeling they are important and when you make the effort to do this you will also be building meaningful relationships that can have an impact on your offline and online business.

You may be nervous, but force yourself not to talk too much. Make brief comments then ask questions that will elicit positive responses. In so doing you take the pressure off yourself and the person to whom you’re speaking will be thrilled at your level of interest in what he or she has to say.

People have been known offline to make a big fuss about huge ‘Giveaways’ that turn out to be very disappointing for many customers because the item that was given was of poor quality or of very little value.

What about those of us who work online?  What should we give away, and how can giving away valuable products help to attract more visitors and ultimately business to our website?

The most important thing to keep in mind is that whatever we give away, whether it’s a free report, an e-book, e-course, teleseminar, etc. should be of good quality and value.  Someone may reason that it does not make sense to give away a report which you could probably sell for $17 or even $27.  On the surface it may not seem to be a good business decision, but it could be one of the best business decisions that you make.

For one thing, if you do not have a huge list to market to, selling a $17 or $27 report is not going to bring you much money.  Another thing is that when your readers see the valuable content that you’ve given away, they will not only thank you, but they will more readily be attracted to any future products you may market to them.

In order to benefit from the valuable content that you give to your visitors, you must be able to capture their basic information, usually their name and e-mail address on an opt-in form on your blog, or an opt-in or squeeze page.

Many online marketers then send these persons to a download page link.  What I’ve found that works better is to send them to an autoresponder message where you thank them for requesting the product and send the download link in that first e-mail.  In this was you immediately start to build a relationship with your visitor and you would have verified that there are no errors in the e-mail address.  You also want to assure your visitors that their information will not be shared with anyone else.

As more people subscribe and take advantage of your valuable free giveaway you will be building your list and will have more people to market to in the future.