1. Admit that you know nothing, and then dial in on something that interests you.
I wish I didn’t have such an ego when I started. I was a little brat when I first joined this forum (maybe I still am?). I really thought I knew just about everything because I knew how to create a website. Seriously.
I didn’t know how to create any products.
I didn’t have any services to offer.
I didn’t know how to sell anything.
I didn’t have any visitors to my websites.
I didn’t really know anything except how to upload a ripped HTML template onto a server, and yet I went to bed every night thinking that tomorrow I was going to wake up and something was going to be drastically different. Spoiler alert: Nothing changed.
It took me about 4 years until I realized I needed to finally sit down and master something. I needed to master something I was interested in. I was just chasing the money up until this point. I have been a jack-of-all-trades but a master-of-none for far too long. I sat down, learned everything I could about Instagram, and that’s when I started becoming successful.
Understand this: The things you enjoy in life are usually the things you are naturally good at.We all tend to cling to things that naturally click with us. If you are going to make money online, try - in some capacity - to do something your passionate about. When you incorporate your passions and interests into your daily work activities, you will find that those normal, mundane activities become much more enjoyable, and you will be more willing to do things you normally wouldn’t do.
You’ll be more willing to make one more phone call.
You'll be more willing to make one more backlink.
You'll be more willing to obtain one more sale.
You’ll be more willing to go the extra mile to obtain success.
For me, what I was passionate about was fitness, and one of the best avenues for fitness was Instagram. So, I learned everything about Instagram marketing because I knew I wanted to work with fitness one day, and I figured Instragram would be a great start. Guess what happened next? Before I knew it, I was managing million-follower fitness accounts, and I was making more money than I could imagine by doing something I actually loved!
How did that happen?
I didn’t mind posting about fitness – I enjoyed it!
I didn’t mind following hundreds of accounts every day – I enjoyed it!
I didn’t mind researching the latest fitness trends – I enjoyed it!
Everything else I’ve done up until that point was a chore. It was boring. I didn’t enjoy making websites. I didn’t enjoy SEO. I didn’t enjoy learning about ClickBank. So every time those methods required me to go the extra mile, I was far more likely to ignore it and give up. When I started doing things I enjoyed, it was no longer viewed as a chore, but an interesting, exciting activity that was also making me money. What gets better than that?
Commit to something you a personally interested in. Forget about what makes money and what doesn’t make money. If you are passionate enough in a specific niche, you will find ways to make money.
2. Ordinary hard work doesn’t mean anything anymore. Innovative hard work is absolutely key for success.
In all honesty, hard work doesn’t mean anything anymore. Almost everyone is expected to work hard. You will amount to nothing if you don’t work hard at internet marketing – period. If you go through the motions in life with a passionless, lack-of-desire attitude – you’re going to get the results you rightfully deserve. Anyone can earn a living online if they work hard and are knowledgeable enough in what they are doing. I am a firm believer in that; however,if you want to make it to the top, you need to do so much more than that. If you want IM to generate you a full-time income, you will need to be an innovative hard worker.
What are you doing differently that sets you apart from everyone else in your niche? And trust me, there are numerous other people doing something similar to you. There are 800,000+ people registered on Black Hat World alone. These forums have grown to the point that almost every money-making thread here is almost useless if you follow it exactly to the point; however, almost every thread on here can still make money if you do something out-of-the-box with it.
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”– Steve Jobs
If you are a creative, innovative person – you can make almost anything happen, and you can sell almost anything. All it takes is the right platform, with the right timing, with the right technique, andobviouslyhard work.
In addition, Innovative hard work allows for innovative smart work. With everything you do, you should always think about how to do things smarter.
How can I automate this?
Does it make more sense to have someone else do this?
How can I evolve this idea?
In my own field, I’ve learned how to take normal, everyday tasks and automate them to where I only need to check on them once a week. With enough experience within your own niche, you can take a 40 hour workweek and compress it down to a 4 hour workweek with enough smart work.
Now, understand this: You don’t begin with the smart work. You don’t begin with learning how to do everything in as short amount of time as possible. You learn how to do things normally. You then learn how to perfect certain tasks within your niche, and then you learn how to do things better.
3. Find people who will say: “You suck!” Don’t surround yourself with “Yes” men/women.
I think one of the biggest reasons businesses fail is because the owners surround themselves with people who are afraid to tell them the things they are doing wrong. I see this all the time on this forum, specifically when people post journeys. While encouragement in the right doses is great, you need to find people who will confront you on the things you are doing wrong.
Remember when you were a young child and you showed your parents one of your drawings? Or you showed them a tower of blocks that you built? Or you showed them how “well” you colored inside the lines of a coloring book? Do you remember that?
How did your parents always respond?
They were always so proud! They hung up your pictures on the fridge. They gave you compliments like you just discovered the cure for a disease. They loved it!
DON’T GO TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT FOR CRITICISM.
Find people who are willing to look at you in the eyes and tell you what you’re doing wrong. Find people who will say “YOU SUCK”. You have to find people who will be honest with you. Here’s a quick snippet from one of my earlierposts:
“Let’s say Jane opens a restaurant because she thinks it’ll be fun. Jane hires her best friends to work at the restaurant with her. Jane keeps pushing bad ideas, and her friends agree because they don’t want to offend her. What happens? Customers see the bad implementation of ideas, and Jane goes out of business.
So, what’s the solution for Jane? She needs to surround herself with people who will tell her that her ideas suck. She needs to find people who will openly reject and confront her about her bad business practices. If you want to be successful, find people who are going to consistently challenge every thought and idea that you have. It may be irritating. It may piss you off, but you will benefit from this tremendously.”
One thing I should add: Don’t listen to the people saying “you suck" if you absolutely know, without any doubt, that you have a good idea. Don’t ever fall victim to groupthink. Don’t compromise on things when you know you are right. This is incredibly important; however, you must be open to hearing ideas from all angles if you want to achieve success. Surrounding yourself with people who are willing to challenge your ideas is a great thing. Don’t put yourself in an imaginary box!
Here’s a quick true story from my own personal experience: After a couple of months of monetizing on Instagram, I had a close friend openly bash my monetization methods; I’m glad he did, he was absolutely right. He tore down my ideas, insulted them, gave his advice, and told me I was going to make way more money implementing his ideas. His passion and enthusiasm convinced me that I needed to do exactly what he was prescribing to me. A couple weeks later, after implementing his ideas, I was making (no joke)10 timesthe amount of money I was previously making.
Go out and find people who are willing to do the things my friend did for me on that day. Don’t conform to bad ideas, but definitely implement good ideas when you hear them.
4.Write down your goals and time-frames, and renovate them on a daily basis.
Finally, here’s my last tip:
Start writing things down.
Write down everything.
Write down things that motivate you.
Write down your own goals and ambitions.
Write down every step you need to do to achieve your goals and ambitions.
Write down the time-frames you’d like to complete things by.
Write down the tasks you need to complete today. Tomorrow. Next Week. Next Month. This year.
Writing my thoughts down and seeing them in words has helped me outtremendously. I couldn’t even imagine my Black Hat World success without this. Once I completed a goal that I wrote down, I would put a huge check-mark next to it and move on to the next one. There’s no better feeling than doing that!
But.BUT. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned was that I could never be constrained by my own goals or my own time-frames. Even though I really enjoyed seeing my thoughts in writing, I knew I would have to adjust them daily. Re-evaluating my goals every day wasn’t a measure of compromise, but it was a reality check that forced myself to get things done. By consistently renovating my short term objectives, it quickly made all of my long-term goals more plausible as time went on.
Don’t let time slip away from you. Internet marketing is full of distractions. If you don’t have a structured agenda on what you should complete everyday, you will soon find yourself wasting each day watching YouTube videos, reading pointless articles, and streaming Netflix.
That’s all for today. Start doing these thingsnow.
I wish I didn’t have such an ego when I started. I was a little brat when I first joined this forum (maybe I still am?). I really thought I knew just about everything because I knew how to create a website. Seriously.
I didn’t know how to create any products.
I didn’t have any services to offer.
I didn’t know how to sell anything.
I didn’t have any visitors to my websites.
I didn’t really know anything except how to upload a ripped HTML template onto a server, and yet I went to bed every night thinking that tomorrow I was going to wake up and something was going to be drastically different. Spoiler alert: Nothing changed.
It took me about 4 years until I realized I needed to finally sit down and master something. I needed to master something I was interested in. I was just chasing the money up until this point. I have been a jack-of-all-trades but a master-of-none for far too long. I sat down, learned everything I could about Instagram, and that’s when I started becoming successful.
Understand this: The things you enjoy in life are usually the things you are naturally good at.We all tend to cling to things that naturally click with us. If you are going to make money online, try - in some capacity - to do something your passionate about. When you incorporate your passions and interests into your daily work activities, you will find that those normal, mundane activities become much more enjoyable, and you will be more willing to do things you normally wouldn’t do.
You’ll be more willing to make one more phone call.
You'll be more willing to make one more backlink.
You'll be more willing to obtain one more sale.
You’ll be more willing to go the extra mile to obtain success.
For me, what I was passionate about was fitness, and one of the best avenues for fitness was Instagram. So, I learned everything about Instagram marketing because I knew I wanted to work with fitness one day, and I figured Instragram would be a great start. Guess what happened next? Before I knew it, I was managing million-follower fitness accounts, and I was making more money than I could imagine by doing something I actually loved!
How did that happen?
I didn’t mind posting about fitness – I enjoyed it!
I didn’t mind following hundreds of accounts every day – I enjoyed it!
I didn’t mind researching the latest fitness trends – I enjoyed it!
Everything else I’ve done up until that point was a chore. It was boring. I didn’t enjoy making websites. I didn’t enjoy SEO. I didn’t enjoy learning about ClickBank. So every time those methods required me to go the extra mile, I was far more likely to ignore it and give up. When I started doing things I enjoyed, it was no longer viewed as a chore, but an interesting, exciting activity that was also making me money. What gets better than that?
Commit to something you a personally interested in. Forget about what makes money and what doesn’t make money. If you are passionate enough in a specific niche, you will find ways to make money.
2. Ordinary hard work doesn’t mean anything anymore. Innovative hard work is absolutely key for success.
In all honesty, hard work doesn’t mean anything anymore. Almost everyone is expected to work hard. You will amount to nothing if you don’t work hard at internet marketing – period. If you go through the motions in life with a passionless, lack-of-desire attitude – you’re going to get the results you rightfully deserve. Anyone can earn a living online if they work hard and are knowledgeable enough in what they are doing. I am a firm believer in that; however,if you want to make it to the top, you need to do so much more than that. If you want IM to generate you a full-time income, you will need to be an innovative hard worker.
What are you doing differently that sets you apart from everyone else in your niche? And trust me, there are numerous other people doing something similar to you. There are 800,000+ people registered on Black Hat World alone. These forums have grown to the point that almost every money-making thread here is almost useless if you follow it exactly to the point; however, almost every thread on here can still make money if you do something out-of-the-box with it.
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”– Steve Jobs
If you are a creative, innovative person – you can make almost anything happen, and you can sell almost anything. All it takes is the right platform, with the right timing, with the right technique, andobviouslyhard work.
In addition, Innovative hard work allows for innovative smart work. With everything you do, you should always think about how to do things smarter.
How can I automate this?
Does it make more sense to have someone else do this?
How can I evolve this idea?
In my own field, I’ve learned how to take normal, everyday tasks and automate them to where I only need to check on them once a week. With enough experience within your own niche, you can take a 40 hour workweek and compress it down to a 4 hour workweek with enough smart work.
Now, understand this: You don’t begin with the smart work. You don’t begin with learning how to do everything in as short amount of time as possible. You learn how to do things normally. You then learn how to perfect certain tasks within your niche, and then you learn how to do things better.
3. Find people who will say: “You suck!” Don’t surround yourself with “Yes” men/women.
I think one of the biggest reasons businesses fail is because the owners surround themselves with people who are afraid to tell them the things they are doing wrong. I see this all the time on this forum, specifically when people post journeys. While encouragement in the right doses is great, you need to find people who will confront you on the things you are doing wrong.
Remember when you were a young child and you showed your parents one of your drawings? Or you showed them a tower of blocks that you built? Or you showed them how “well” you colored inside the lines of a coloring book? Do you remember that?
How did your parents always respond?
They were always so proud! They hung up your pictures on the fridge. They gave you compliments like you just discovered the cure for a disease. They loved it!
DON’T GO TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT FOR CRITICISM.
Find people who are willing to look at you in the eyes and tell you what you’re doing wrong. Find people who will say “YOU SUCK”. You have to find people who will be honest with you. Here’s a quick snippet from one of my earlierposts:
“Let’s say Jane opens a restaurant because she thinks it’ll be fun. Jane hires her best friends to work at the restaurant with her. Jane keeps pushing bad ideas, and her friends agree because they don’t want to offend her. What happens? Customers see the bad implementation of ideas, and Jane goes out of business.
So, what’s the solution for Jane? She needs to surround herself with people who will tell her that her ideas suck. She needs to find people who will openly reject and confront her about her bad business practices. If you want to be successful, find people who are going to consistently challenge every thought and idea that you have. It may be irritating. It may piss you off, but you will benefit from this tremendously.”
One thing I should add: Don’t listen to the people saying “you suck" if you absolutely know, without any doubt, that you have a good idea. Don’t ever fall victim to groupthink. Don’t compromise on things when you know you are right. This is incredibly important; however, you must be open to hearing ideas from all angles if you want to achieve success. Surrounding yourself with people who are willing to challenge your ideas is a great thing. Don’t put yourself in an imaginary box!
Here’s a quick true story from my own personal experience: After a couple of months of monetizing on Instagram, I had a close friend openly bash my monetization methods; I’m glad he did, he was absolutely right. He tore down my ideas, insulted them, gave his advice, and told me I was going to make way more money implementing his ideas. His passion and enthusiasm convinced me that I needed to do exactly what he was prescribing to me. A couple weeks later, after implementing his ideas, I was making (no joke)10 timesthe amount of money I was previously making.
Go out and find people who are willing to do the things my friend did for me on that day. Don’t conform to bad ideas, but definitely implement good ideas when you hear them.
4.Write down your goals and time-frames, and renovate them on a daily basis.
Finally, here’s my last tip:
Start writing things down.
Write down everything.
Write down things that motivate you.
Write down your own goals and ambitions.
Write down every step you need to do to achieve your goals and ambitions.
Write down the time-frames you’d like to complete things by.
Write down the tasks you need to complete today. Tomorrow. Next Week. Next Month. This year.
Writing my thoughts down and seeing them in words has helped me outtremendously. I couldn’t even imagine my Black Hat World success without this. Once I completed a goal that I wrote down, I would put a huge check-mark next to it and move on to the next one. There’s no better feeling than doing that!
But.BUT. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned was that I could never be constrained by my own goals or my own time-frames. Even though I really enjoyed seeing my thoughts in writing, I knew I would have to adjust them daily. Re-evaluating my goals every day wasn’t a measure of compromise, but it was a reality check that forced myself to get things done. By consistently renovating my short term objectives, it quickly made all of my long-term goals more plausible as time went on.
Don’t let time slip away from you. Internet marketing is full of distractions. If you don’t have a structured agenda on what you should complete everyday, you will soon find yourself wasting each day watching YouTube videos, reading pointless articles, and streaming Netflix.
That’s all for today. Start doing these thingsnow.