Stick To It and Don't You Quit!

Ok. Today I am living proof of the belief that as long as you don't quit, you'll eventually succeed. First, I am an admitted techno phobe - It was all I could do to begin a blog, only because I didn't understand what a blog was, and it all sounded fairly complicated to me. Of course, now here I am merrily "blogging" away.

The point is, once I realized that blogging and article writing were important parts of today's internet marketing strategies, especially the affiliate marketing system that has been teaching me these strategies, I knew I would have to learn how to participate.

And, the interesting thing is, once I got the hang of it, I began not just writing my own blog, but visiting and learning from other peoples' blogs as well.

But, today's post is about YouTube. It was about a year ago that I stumbled upon YouTube. I was looking for information about an old TV show or movie online, and stumbled upon this online TV gizmo called YouTube, where - lo and behold - there was a segment of what I had been searching for!

After that, I was hooked. But only to WATCH YouTube - mind you, never to actually use it myself.

Then, as I learned more and more about internet marketing strategies, I began to hear the whispers... "video marketing" for affiliate marketing systems and terms like that. Like the typical little kid who doesn't want to hear that it's bedtime, I went around with virtual earplugs in my ears, singing "La la la la...I don't hear you... I don't hear you!"

Because there was NO WAY I could figure out how to put videos on the internet.

Until this last week.

You see, as an experiment this last summer (August 2008) John and I had started putting up one of the party tents that we sell on our Portable Garages and Shelters website, when it occurred to me to video tape the process in case someone wanted to see the procedure at some point. I thought maybe I could find someone who understood how to do these things, and put the video on my website for me.

Well, it became increasingly apparent that "if it's to be, it's up to me." So, I tried without any luck whatever to transfer this video file to the website. It was just too big. Then, the people who host my site suggested that I upload it to YouTube and then embed it in my site.

The day I thought could never come came upon me. I bit the bullet. I signed up for YouTube. Piece of cake. Uhh...except for trying to find a user name that wasn't taken. Once I finally got in, I glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't look that hard after all. Just click "download video" and away I go.

Or not. The first try lasted over an hour. I cancelled the download. I tried again. Still nothing after an hour of "whirring" around somewhere between my computer and YouTube.

I searched their forums. Ah ha! Perhaps the file is too big! Perhaps it's in the wrong format.

After a few more tries, I called it a night. "Tomorrow," I thought, "this will all be clear."

When tomorrow came, the same thing happened. I tried cutting the video back, removing frames here or there to shorten it. I saved it to different file types, and tried uploading it - in fact, at the end of day two (Friday), I was thoroughly frustrated.

I emailed my sister who has all sorts of videos on YouTube. While she had some good suggestions, she used certain terminology that went over my head. Stuff like "firewall," "uploaders" and "m4v" - but I got the gist of it.

So, this very morning - on day three - I jostled a few more things around, and tried uploading again. Nothing. Then again. Nothing. Then... just when I thought I should give up - I stopped. I'm a student of self development, and am always telling myself to keep on keeping on and see things through. So, I thought - "how about just one more time..."

And it happened. The video uploaded! It took a while, but it uploaded. And now, I can tell you that I'm no longer dreading using YouTube. In fact, I have my next website swirling around in my head, and guess what! On every page, I can see my little YouTube videos welcoming my visitors to the site.

I didn't quit. And I am now on YouTube. Just don't ask me how I finally got the thing to load, because I have no idea. And I still haven't figured out how to embed it into the website. That will be cake after this ordeal.

But, I know I can do it. I'm one step closer to leaving Techno-Phobe-Land.
So, don't quit! I don't care what you're trying to do. Don't quit.

Oh - if you are at all interested, here is the weasley little video that I was struggling with that whole time: Kathy's Very First YouTube Video!

Oh... By the way. I'm on a roll. Notice the little picture in my post - the TV set? I just learned how to do that, too. Ha! What a day... Hope you have a great one too!

Animal Rescue Site Helping to Feed Abused & Neglected Animals

Hello everyone! I heard from an old friend from my days in the Antarctic program, and she knows that I'm a pet lover. She found this site, where, thanks to many great sponsors, they are getting free food donated daily to help abused and neglected animals!

The site is called The Animal Rescue Site, they need people to visit daily, and click on the purple box labeled "Click here to Give - it's Free!"

It's one of the easiest ways I've seen to help. And, if you have a soft spot for animals, like I do, you can do it daily - just save it to your favorites.

Please feel free to pass this post along! Again, this doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Once again, here's the web site! Please pass it along to people you know.

Once again, this posted in memory of my little Kitty - who was also abandoned at one time.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Affiliate Marketing System? What About It?

Since most people who know me know that I work 100% from home now, they often ask me how I do it. I have been getting a lot of those questions this winter, since John and I left the north country (northern NH) for the warmer climate of coastal South Carolina.

Except that it snowed here on the beach yesterday. And it's in the 20's tonight. Brrr! Old Man Winter wasn't letting us go without a fight! :)

Anyway, I guess the reason people ask us this question is because we don't fit the typical "snow bird" profile - which means we are not retired (yet!).

We assure people that we most certainly DO work! And we work hard. Well. "Work Hard" is a relative term. My back aches, but only because I'm hunkered down over the computer keyboard for work.

As you know, if you've been reading this blog, we work our online business opportunities. A couple of our internet marketing strategies are centered around products which are physically drop-shipped from our supplier, and yet another is an affiliate marketing system.

I know that some readers might ask what I truly believe the best affiliate marketing program is - and that is a difficult question to answer. Everyone is different, which means that different people will prefer different products. I've addressed this topic in other blog entries, wherein I advise people who are interested in business opportunities online to carefully review their likes/dislikes, how much time they have to devote, etc.

Also, when asked, I will typically tell folks that I prefer to represent a company that has a solid, stand-alone product. You've probably seen that in my writings, as well.

And an affiliate marketing opportunity may very well be different from an affiliate marketing system. At least in my eye.

Because the affiliate marketing opportunity you choose to represent may not necessarily have a marketing system to help you learn the ropes of online internet marketing.

So what to do?

Well, you've undoubtedly heard me tell my readers to do some due diligence and soul searching before joining up with anything. Because, I don't care how good the internet or affiliate marketing system is - if you are not going to put in the time to 1) LEARN the system, and then 2) WORK the system - and by work the system, I mean on a CONSISTENT basis, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Because nothing works unless YOU do.

So. That said, there are a few affiliate marketing systems out there that have good information, good educational products, and the type of training that - once you wrap your head around it - you can implement, and begin to see results in the following ways: 1) More visitors (aka "traffic") to your site, which leads to 2) more sales at your site, which leads to 3) more commissions in your bank account.

I like Mike Dillard's style - talk about "no nonsense." You can check it out and get some free information and see if this affiliate marketing system resonates with you.

Of course, it's no secret that I'm extremely fond of Global Resorts Network as an excellent affiliate marketing opportunity, since John & I love to travel and have been very impressed by the exclusive luxury travel club that we market (which really is a standalone product). For people who want to travel AND earn some money marketing a luxury vacation travel product, the GRN commission structure is impressive. For us, it's both an entrepreneur's dream come true as well as a vacationer's dream come true (Hey! That's our motto!)

As far as the affiliate marketing systems that we work, we've learned a great deal through the sites we've already mentioned - which you can visit at your leisure. They are certainly not the only affiliate marketing resources out there, but they're certainly a good starting point. The direct links are:
Presenting GRN (this gets right to the point of the opportunity)
Black Belt Recruiting (this is Mike Dillard's approach)
Truth To Wealth Online (this is a great GRN Team Building System - plus you can get a nice free eBook about dispelling the myths of working online)

But ultimately, it is up to you to discover what it is you enjoy doing, decide if you have the time to devote to learning an affiliate marketing system - and then, once you choose your particular affiliate marketing opportunity that "grabs you" - STICK WITH IT!

Must Have Cats

We are really enjoying life here in South Carolina this winter. The last 2 days were quite cold by southern standards – and it chilled even us to the bone. It actually went into the teens overnight the other night – and this cold snap reminded us why we left New Hampshire this winter to begin with.

But it isn’t just the differences in weather that set each region apart. There are all sorts of differences that we’ve noticed. For example, last night we visited with some of our new friends down here (have I mentioned how friendly everyone is down here?), and the talk turned to our respective cats. First, if you’ve been reading along in the blog lately, you may recall in my entry about the Miracles of 2008 that we recently lost our own little Kitty. So, I still get choked up when we talk about cats…

I had never had a pet when growing up in suburban New Jersey. So, having a pet was a totally new concept to me. The idea of having a little furry companion initially appealed to me when I moved to northern New Hampshire, after having worked for several seasons in Antarctica. In the mountains of New Hampshire, I was alone for most of the year with no family, and I didn't know many people - this was a very quiet area. After the experience of working with hundreds of amazing people in Antarctica over the course of the last 7 or 8 years, life was pretty lonely. That's when cats entered my life, and I've never looked back.

During my years in NH, I worked for a short time for the Mount Washington Observatory, which is a great educational non-profit organization that has been monitoring weather from the top of Mount Washington since the 1930's. They have a wonderful staff, some of the best folks I've ever worked with.

And at the summit (of Mt. Washington), they also have a cat. This has been a tradition for decades. One of my favorite photos from the Observatory, taken of the crew that witnessed the world-record high winds of 231 miles per hour on April 12, 1934, includes a little cat being held by one of the observers.

Just a year or so ago (December 2007), a nationwide primary vote was conducted to find the next summit cat since longtime mascot, Nin, was retiring to live in Gorham, NH. It's a lot of work being the summit cat, and it was time for a younger cat to take the controls. About 8,000 votes came in, and the winner was Marty, a cat from the Conway Area Humane Society, who of course has big paws to fill, but as I understand, is adjusting beautifully.

Back to South Carolina. While we were at our friends’ house, I was petting her newest cat, an adopted shelter kitty who is battling to regain his health. Thinking of how much I miss my Kitty, I mentioned how difficult it is to find a rent that will accept cats – and yet, quite a number of places will allow dogs. Our friend explained one of the reasons for this – cat dander is difficult to remove from the rental units, and some people are highly allergic to cat dander.

Somehow, the discussion turned to the topic of bugs. You know, like spiders, and such. There is this unusual bug that we’ve recently encountered called the Palmetto bug. Oh. And another bug I had never seen before called the cockroach. Evidently, Palmetto bugs are ever so slightly different than the common cockroach – at least that’s what the Bug Man tried to explain when he came to our unit for the monthly pest control routine.

Now as I understand it, cockroaches are just about everywhere in this country. I just had never seen one.

When I did see one, I reacted how some people react when they first see a mouse.

Now, the funny thing is, some of the folks I’ve met down here have said that if they saw a mouse, they would freak out. I mentioned that up in rural northern NH where we have our house, mice are so common that I hardly even notice them.

Except when they skitter and scratch in the walls, waking me up during the middle of the night.

Of course, I noticed them when Kitty would leave one in the hallway at our bedroom door as a gift – obviously placing it there so we would be sure to find it (kind of like anticipating giving out presents on Christmas morning).

So it’s all kind of relative, I guess.

Back to last night. Well, after an absolutely wonderful evening, we drove back to the condo complex with our other new friends staying at the same place – who also have a cat. Fortunately, they were able to find a unit that accepts cats.

And, maybe this is a coincidence, and maybe it is not – but they don’t have any Palmetto bugs or cockroaches in their unit.

I then recalled that another new friend of ours here was telling me how her pets chase the bugs like mice.

And I got to thinking that these condo owners have it all wrong. They should be INSISTING that we all have cats. Even if they only caught a few bugs, the cats would certainly earn their keep. And think of how far this would go in helping raise the pet adoption rates.

John and I began talking about how we would handle mouse control at our New Hampshire house if we decide to use it as a rental property. After all, it is in a gorgeous area, and a lot of people really love the views we have. But, then I’d be concerned. What happens if our renters have the same reaction to mice that I have to the Palmetto bugs and cockroaches?

That’s when John said, “Well, that does it. They’d have to have a cat.”

So here’s our potential rental policy statement:
“You must have a cat. Any mice your cat dispatches can and will be used against the costs of rodent control. You have the right to more than one cat. If you cannot afford a cat, one will be provided for you.”

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention – When I see a tick crawling up my leg in the summer in NH, I react in a similar fashion to how I reacted when I saw the Palmetto bug.

At least the Palmetto bugs don’t crawl up my leg.

(Note: There are so many homeless pets, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to me when I visit animal shelters. I realize that we can't all have pets, and that some people should NOT have pets - and of course we can only have so many pets...

But, if you are in a position to have a pet - please consider adoption, and visit your local animal shelter, or visit http://www.petfinder.com/ or similar website.

This is a public service message from me, because I really miss my Kitty.

If you can't have a pet, please consider helping your local shelter in some other way. The Humane Society of the United States has a lot of information about adoption and how to help at their website here. Thanks for reading!)

Personal and Corporate Accountability - Some Recent Observations

I was just looking at a 4-oz jar of one of my favorite seasonings - this wonderful stuff called Busha Browne's Authentic Jerk Seasoning. This is really flavorful - and very spicy Jamaican rub that my husband and I just love. Unfortunately, it is really hard to find in stores.

So, prior to Christmas 2008, we decided that if we could find this delightful seasoning on line, we could order a bunch of it, and include it as part of the gift packages we were sending out.

It was easy enough to find the company on line - but more difficult to find someone actually carrying this particular seasoning. Busha Browne's had a listing of where we might be able to purchase it, and we began making the rounds.

This is where it got interesting. I refuse to name the company where we finally decided to order from, but they seemed sincere enough. So, we ordered 10 jars and paid about $12 for Priority Shipping. It should have reached us well before Christmas.

A few days went by, and then a few more. No jerk seasoning. Finally, 2 days before Christmas, I called them to find out where the seasoning was. Turns out they sent it to the wrong zip code - instead of using "North Myrtle Beach," which is where we are, they sent it to "Myrtle Beach," which is about 20+ miles south of us.

When I mentioned that I was disappointed that the package was misdirected, the person on the other end did not apologize at all. Instead, she said, "Well, it went to Myrtle Beach." To which I replied, "I am aware of that - this is why, when I placed the order, I told you what my zip code was and that I was in NORTH Myrtle Beach."

Still no apology. Just an excuse. "Well," she said, "The computer automatically put in the zip code for Myrtle Beach." I again explained that this was the very reason why I clearly said NORTH Myrtle Beach, and again, why I emphasized the correct zip code.

Still no apology. However, at this point, she said, "Well maybe it's still at the Myrtle Beach post office." At this point I got on line, and found a number of contacts for the Myrtle Beach post office - for which there are numerous branches. At least at this point she told me that she would call the post office and get back to me.

She finally got back to me and said that someone had claimed the package. She did not offer to send along another package until I said something to the effect, "Well hopefully, they will be honest and return the package to you since it clearly had someone else's name on it... but in the meantime, what about my order?"

She finally said that they would put another package into the mail for us the next day (we finally received the package on January 5th 2009).

It really stuck in my mind how this person never once apologized for the inconvenience. No, "Oh, wow, I'm so sorry that this happened..." Never once a, "I'm terribly sorry for the mistake - we evidently took down the information incorrectly; don't worry - we'll take care of this and send you out another package immediately..."

Nothing like that.

Now, I'm the first to admit that if one of my orders to a customer goes wrong, I want to crawl under the covers and hide my head. But that's not very professional.

As difficult as it sometimes is to have to call a customer and explain that something went wrong, it's the only way to do business. Likewise, if a customer calls me and tells me that something was wrong with the order - and sure, it happens sometimes - I truly do practice what I preach, and immediately offer an apology. After all, the customer ordered from me in confidence, and if something goes wrong with the order's fullfilment, how can that possibly be the customer's fault?

It isn't. So, I apologize and tell them I will do everything I can to make things right.

One final memory along these lines - this one's almost comical. I recall that a few years ago, I was in a fast food restaurant, and ordered a meal that should have come with a side order of mashed potatoes. Instead I got something else - I don't even recall what it was now.

But what I DO recall was the reaction of the clerk behind the counter (who was not a young kid just starting out, by the way, but someone who would have had a few decades of solid work experience under her belt). When I brought the meal back to the counter to point out the error and ask for the appropriate side dish, she looked at me - almost in horror - and splurted out, "Not my fault! It's not my fault!"

I assured her I wasn't upset - I merely hoped to exchange the incorrect dish for the correct one - but all she could do was mutter, "Not my fault! It's not my fault!"

But, ultimately, she did get me the correct dish, and all was well with the world, once again.

Working from Home in the Travel Industry

When I was a kid, one of my fantasies included working in a travel agency. At the time, my only experience in travel was going down to "The Shore," as we called it growing up in New Jersey. I pictured working in a sunny office, helping eager families choose their motel or bungalow for their summer week or two in Ocean Beach or Wildwood.

My experiences in travel have broadened somewhat since childhood, but my interest in marketing vacations hasn't changed. Just the methods have. Perhaps you’ve noticed that some of the travel agencies in your town have closed their doors. Up in the northern White Mountains of NH where we have a home, we’ve seen two travel agencies leave town.

Considering how easy it is to find good travel deals on line, this turn of events is not surprising!
Nowadays, we book almost every trip we take online with the vacation travel club we belong to.

We did feel a little bad when we saw the writing on the wall, and noticed the “For Sale” sign in front of our former travel agent’s building. We had always enjoyed working with her, and seeing what exciting trip she would come up with for us.

For several years, as the internet changed from something I vaguely heard about in the news to my primary tool for my livlihood, I heard the whispering – “travel agents will be doomed by the internet!” or “travel agents will all be going out of business.”

Of course, that’s utter nonsense, since there are plenty of areas where the population still supports a local travel agency - and there are plenty of people who still want someone else to prepare their travel arrangements.

Just not in our rural area.

But, why the doom and gloom? If you love travel (whether or not you have experience as a travel agent), then why not hop on the “Working at Home Online” train?

There are plenty of opportunities working from home in the travel industry these days. Spending less than 5 minutes in an online search will prove that to you!

You’ve seen the advertisements touting the benefits of working from home on line – but you need to focus. For example, if you like NASCAR, but there are no NASCAR related jobs in your neighborhood, then find products in that niche and begin selling them online!

If you like travel, then focus on a travel product. Don’t let the lack of travel agencies deter you. There are PLENTY of opportunities for working from home in the travel industry – and yes, they are now online. You can easily find any number of travel related MLMs and affiliate programs (for all you NASCAR lovers, I don’t know if there are any affiliate programs for you!)

Before you jump headlong into the “internet working from home” pool, but after you’ve weighed the advantages of working from home – along with the benefits of working from home (and there are many! But that’s a different story.), please check the credentials of whichever program floats your boat (pun intended, if working from home in the travel industry is what you want!).

Make sure that your program – whether it’s an MLM or affiliate program has a solid, stand-alone product. One you can confidently offer to the person who just wants to go on vacation without worrying about whether or not you’re going to try recruiting him or her to join your business, or take a timeshare tour.

For example – and I refuse to name companies here – I know people who regularly ask me to join their travel businesses in true MLM fashion. They know I love travel – and typically, they know that I’ve had a lot of experience in MLM. For me, I have noticed that personally contacting people I know in an attempt to interest them in my “working from home opportunity” dilutes my relationship with them. I don't want them avoiding me when they see me at the supermarket.

Hey, that’s just me. You may have different feelings and levels of success with that.

And that’s fine.

BUT… If the friend happens to have an opportunity and can use customers as well as a sales force, I’m all in! I have a very dear friend who is a member of a travel MLM, and if her price on something beats mine, I’m in. For one of my last vacations, I booked a car through her site and got a 2 week rental for less than $200. No joke.

I just want to be sure that whatever working from home opportunity I choose has a stand alone product.

Because I enjoy travel so much, I want to be able to offer someone who loves to travel an opportunity to do JUST THAT. Travel.

Stand alone product. And, so that is what I market. You can buy it, or not buy it. You can join as an affiliate – or not.

Hey, if the customer is interested in learning how to earn commissions marketing the luxury vacation membership him or herself, I’m all over it. But, it remains their choice – and not until they bring it up.

Because, there are so many people out there who really just want to travel – and they want a good deal. Which we have.

One of the best analogies I ever heard in relation to this is “Don’t try to sell a steak to a vegetarian.” It’s true. Remember: Not everyone wants a work at a home business opportunity. So, why try to sell them that?

But, they might enjoy travel, and might be seeking a way to enjoy luxury vacation travel for a lot less than they’ve been paying.

So, keep these things in mind when you are looking for ways you can be working from home in the travel industry – or working from home on line in general. Once you have decided on what you are going to market online, you'll need to put a system in place - an internet marketing system and plan of work to market successfully. But that's a chapter all its own.

Start with an opportunity offering a high quality, stand alone product. It’s critical.

What Finding Sharks' Teeth on the Beach Has to do with Internet Marketing

So, what does finding sharks’ teeth on the beach have to do with internet marketing?

Well, quite a bit, as it turns out. And I'll share this with you here.

See, when we got down to Cherry Grove Beach, South Carolina to escape the cold and snowy winters of northern New Hampshire, we noticed a lot of people beachcombing for different shells and – sharks’ teeth.

First of all, we need to note that the only reason we could uproot ourselves from the bitter northland for warmer climes is due to the amazing opportunities that the internet and internet marketing have given us. For this, we are thankful.

Anyway, as we settled in, and began walking along the ocean front, we decided that we, too, would look for sharks’ teeth.

And so we did. Every day, for a month, we looked for sharks’ teeth. But, nary a tooth was to be found.

This was getting frustrating.

Finally, one day we noticed a couple down by the Cherry Grove Pier who looked like they were completely engrossed in whatever they were finding in the sand. Intrigued, we approached them and asked what they were finding (Note: Down here, everyone – and we mean EVERYONE is exceptionally friendly, so we weren’t concerned about approaching strangers.).

Well, not only were they looking for sharks’ teeth – they were FINDING them. Lots of them. We asked if we could see them – they showed us numerous types and sizes, and they even knew what type of shark some of them were from (they even had a Great White Shark tooth – which served as a reminder as to why we do not want to ever encounter one…).

A week or so later, we decided to walk a little more slowly than our usual pace – just in case we could more easily spot a tooth. Because typically, we were hurried, more intent on getting exercise with the hope that we’d spot a tooth. And every day we said, “THIS is the day we find a sharks’ tooth!” We kept visualizing what it would be like when one of us finally said, “Honey, I found one!”

And all of a sudden, about two weeks or so ago, it happened. We were strolling along – not intent on exercise, but on finding a shark’s tooth. John bent down, picked something up – and said, “Honey, I found one!” And sure enough, it was a sharks’ tooth!

Now, moseying along ahead of us was a gentleman who was also a shark tooth hunter. He had a plastic zipper-lock bag with a bunch of them – and one was very large.

We asked him where and how he found all of them. He explained that we needed to concentrate our search on where the tide was going out, leaving a “wash” of debris behind – almost like a sluicing action one might see in a gold pan or sluice.

Well, wouldn’t you just know it! Within minutes, I found a sharks’ tooth, too! Then another. And another. Before we knew it, and several days later, we had amassed a collection of about 24 sharks’ teeth.

Then, a few evenings ago, I went out for a breath of air on the beach. It was nearly sunset. I noticed that the “wash” from the previous high tide was quite high on the beach since the day before saw extremely high winds, and subsequently, high and rough wave action.

I thought of what the various experienced shark tooth hunters had taught me, and I decided to search in this particular spot. Lo! Within a minute I saw a sharks’ tooth.
And another. And then another. In less than 40 minutes, I came home with 12 full sharks’ teeth!

And to think that less than a week or so before, we hadn’t found even one.

So. What does any of this fascinating story have to do with internet marketing?

Plenty. Because as I marveled at how we were transformed from well-intentioned, but uninformed beachcombing dilettantes, ignorant of the knowledge that would help us find that elusive prize – the coveted shark’s tooth, into beachcombers who were now having success and finding sharks’ teeth easily, and on a daily basis – it hit me. It hit me hard.

Internet marketing success is NO DIFFERENT than hunting for sharks’ teeth. What is it we all want in our internet marketing efforts? We want sales. We want customers. We want like-minded members to join our organizations.

If you decide to market online, but don’t know: 1) what your customer looks like, 2) where to find your customer, and 3) how to find your customer – then you are just like we were when we started searching for sharks’ teeth.

But, the second we 1) slowed down, 2) asked someone what they looked like, 3) learned how and where to find them, and 4) focused on the search until we found one, we became successful.

So, what this means to you, as an internet marketing specialist, is that you – we – all of us, need to do the following:
1) Slow down – don’t work in a frenzy, jumping from product to product, marketing strategy to strategy. Don’t try to focus on more than one thing at a time. It doesn’t work. My eyes prove this – I cannot look at the computer screen while at the same time clearly see the ocean in front of me.

2) Learn from people who already successful. Hey, this is no secret. Every internet marketing guru out there will tell you to follow success.

3) Learn strategies that are proven to be successful, and then implement them. And keep implementing them until you, too, find your first shark’s tooth. Then, by some kind of wonderful magic, you will find more and more of them.

What if – after talking with all the people who are successfully finding sharks’ teeth, day after day – what if I walked away and said, “Well, he doesn’t know anything! It must have been luck! I’m going to look around the base of the Palm trees next. Surely, there must be a shark tooth there…”

What if I did that?

Even worse, what if – after all that discussion, all that initial interest – I decided, “Nah – it’s not worth it to find one silly little tooth.” And then I just walked away, thinking, “Maybe I’ll just find something easier to identify on the beach.”

Hmmm. Beached jelly fish are certainly easier to identify.

Hopefully, you would say that I am a fool for ignoring what is clearly a proven strategy for finding such an intriguing part of nature.

Yet, how many of us do that very same thing, day after day! We say we want to learn a good internet marketing strategy. We pay money – sometimes a lot of money – to learn from those who are successful. Then, after one or two limp gestures, we drop it.

Maybe the next strategy will succeed...

Maybe...