BEWARE OF THE 80/20 RULE - LET YOUR SECRET BE YOUR SECRET

How many times have you given up on an idea which you believed in because someone told you it would not work? How many times have you been scoffed at when you put a point across which no one else had thought of before? Are you someone who is internally referenced (derives confidence and satisfaction from your own judgment) or externally referenced (confidence and satisfaction is gained from the feedback of others)? Do you let your secret be your secret? If you haven’t heard of the 80/20 rule before, it’s time I shared it with you.

The 80/20 rule also known as Pareto’s Principle insinuates that 20% of people achieve 80% of what they set out to do while 80% only achieve 20%. This rule sheds light on why a lot of our ideas on intentions never seem to make it beyond inception stage, as soon as we share it with others. There is a higher probability that you would run your idea past someone who achieves very little in life and have therefore developed a negative attitude towards getting out of their comfort zones and taking risks.

It is therefore, important we keep our ideas to ourselves or seek out people who could help us develop our ideas further or at least encourage us to pursue it instead of giving up without trying. This is a common experience of a budding Internet marketing entrepreneur who gets so much negative feedback from people who have little or no experience in Internet marketing that they quit at the first sign of the going getting tough.

I had a funny experience while working for a financial institution in the UK during my corporate days. In one of our management training sessions, the Personnel manager who was facilitating a session on innovation commented to a colleague that all the ideas she came up with were either tried and tested or seemed far fetched. My colleague classically replied “You would not know innovation if it bit you in the leg. You’d probably call it far-fetched”.

Due to my knowledge of the 80/20 rule, it would take someone of the calibre of Donald Trump or 50 Cent to knock my idea for it to have any effect.

As individuals, we are ultimately responsible for ourselves. Therefore, we need to give ourselves highest regard in evaluating our ideas, more than anyone else. It is better to try something and fail than not try at all, especially if someone convinced you it wasn’t a good idea. Especially as there is a significant chance that the person belongs to the 80% of underachievers. You wouldn’t want someone else’s take on life and their experiences to be the main determinant of how you live your life.

Therefore, if I was given one shot at advising anyone I know, it would be to keep your ideas to yourself and only share them with those who have a track record of achievement. So, if you do not succeed, you’d know it’s not because you gave up on your stool.

HAVE FAITH IN INTERNET MARKETING

Faith is crucial to the success of an Internet marketing entrepreneur. It is what keeps us going when the going gets tough and we are on the verge of quitting. We need to understand what faith is so we can know how to develop it.

We have exercised faith from the day we were born. Faith is not confined to belief in God or success in internet marketing. We demonstrate it in our every day lives – belief that we will sit on a chair and it would not give way; jump on our fathers’ arms as kids without being dropped; or taking that anaesthetic from the nurse with confidence. Therefore, it is important that we view faith not as believing in the impossible but as believing in something or someone because we have seen others do the same with desirable results.

We need faith to be successful in our internet marketing business. As new entrepreneurs, the road to success may be paved with challenges. However, the worst thing a budding entrepreneur can do is quit at the first hurdle in order to try something else; chances are he will fail again because of the missing ingredient – faith. What a new entrepreneur must focus on is to succeed no matter what it takes.

Faith, in the context of being an entrepreneur is believing you can achieve anything you set your mind on. That believe must be fuelled by examples of others who have succeeded in your industry or company. To increase you must continue to connect with these successful entrepreneurs, get to know them personally and learn the secrets of their successes. You must bear in mind that most of these entrepreneurs had to overcome the hurdles you are facing now and they overcame them. They are not extraterrestrial beings – they are human. If they can do it, so can you. Just have faith.

The development of faith by the new internet entrepreneur could make the difference between success and failure in your business. Any internet business faces considerable challenges but these challenges can be overcome through determination and by learning from others.

CONQUERING YOUR FEAR OF FAILURE IN ONLINE BUSINESS

So you want to start your online business from home but are too scared to take decisive action due to fear of failure? You have heard too many horror stories of how people's dreams are dashed by lofty promises that never materializes. You are not alone. I and countless others have had to face this fear. But you know what? I'd rather try and fail than not try at all. Some people, including me conquer the fear of failure in starting an online business. Let me share a story with you.

My daughter was delighted one fine summer morning. I was walking her to school instead of using the car which I would normally do. She was pleased because she expected to receive a 'star' from her teacher as reward for being a good girl and exercising.

As she skipped ahead of me in delight, I had other things on my mind. As we passed our driveway, she asked "Daddy, what's that yellow thing on your car wheel?" That 'yellow thing' was the real reason I was walking her to school this fine morning. "It's called a wheel clamp", I sheepishly answered. You know what kids are like...six questions later, she understood that people who do not pay their parking tickets on time sometimes end up with these yellow horrible things on their car wheels.

As sweet as she was, the look she gave me and what she said next changed my life forever. It was the look someone gives you when they feel sorry for you. She seemed to finally understand why she did not always have MacDonald's or ice-cream when she occasionally asked. "Oh, they did the same thing to Melissa's dad", she told me. "Don't worry Daddy, you can take some money from my piggy bank".
Those two sentences broke my heart. I knew Melissa's dad. He is a fine gentleman, always polite. He was going through the same thing as I was. Good corporate jobs, managerial positions for both of us but still struggling to make ends meet. Daddy was so broke that his little daughter feels sorry for him.

I promised myself that day that it would be the last time I felt the way I did, like a mustard seed, because of a lack of money. I had lofty dreams like helping the underprivileged in Africa and taking my kids to Disney World but couldn't pay a parking ticket. I needed to realize my dreams by waking up! I promised myself that as long as I had breath, I was going to secure the financial future of my kids so that they are never in a position where they couldn't afford a parking ticket. I also promised myself that I would help as many people as possible to enjoy financial freedom. I got this inspiration from the plight of Melissa's dad. Sometimes the people who need help the most are those we think do not. I place myself and Melissa's dad in that category. On the surface, we appeared successful but in reality, we were staring at the abyss of personal failure.

People like Donald Trump have stressed the best way to achieve financial freedom is to be your own boss or to get extremely lucky. I decided to choose the former route and start an online business. It has been a challenge but I have enjoyed it immensely. The results, the challenges, the frustrations and the delight have been truly empowering. Several months down the line, I have fired my boss and I am now working my business full-time. I am truly on my way to achieving financial freedom for my family and helping others do the same.

Do not for one moment be fooled into thinking it has been smooth sailing. My friends and even my wife thought I had lost my mind when I decided to quit the corporate world. They had heard too many stories of how people fail in these types of businesses online. Initially, I had similar reservations but thankfully, another fear emerged which totally surpassed the fear of failure. That was the fear of inaction. Now, I dread not doing whatever it takes to ensure my life's mission is complete. If I didn't do what it takes to achieve my goals, I strongly believe I would end up a bitter and twisted man. I couldn't remain plodding in the corporate world, being afraid to open the bills, not having enough money to take my family for a meal and continually feeling like a failure. The way I conquered my fear of failure in my online business was to accept that I was a failure already and that I was not going to settle for my present circumstances.

I would like to walk my children to school out of choice and not because a 'yellow thing' was stuck to my car wheel. I will take the necessary steps to ensure this happens.

I hope my story will help inspire you to take option. Please bear in mind that an online business is not a get rich quick scheme. No matter which system is being offered to you, you need to realize that success or failure depends on you. Do not let failure be an option. Refuse to be intimidated by the fear of failure. Instead, channel that fear into action. Be persistent and consistent and your dreams will come true. The people that succeed in online businesses are those who treat their business as a business and not as a hobby. Go for that dream but taking action daily towards achieving your business goals.

WHO SUCCEEDS IN NETWORKING MARKETING

Apparently, there are two types of people in this world. Those who take life too seriously and those who are happy go lucky. It is reassuring to note that both types of people can be successful in the network marketing industry and both are as liable to fail, although they would beg to differ.

For the serious types - let's call them Pragmatists, life has got to be planned and organized day in, day out. They are terrified of taking undue risks and derive great pleasure from knowing everything is in order. They are generally regarded as seeing the glass half empty. This ability to plan and organizing is vital in growing a network marketing business.

The happy-go-lucky types or Sunshiners as they are sometimes called see life as an adventure and get a buzz of trying new things even if making mistakes could be costly. They are considered as the positive types, seeing the glass half full. They are happiest trying new things and having the adrenalin rush of uncertainty. This is very important, especially in times when the business results are frustrating. The Sunshiners would relish the challenge of turning her fortunes around.

The one set despises the choices and lifestyle of the other. However, each group has serious but totally misguided misconceptions about the other. For the Sunshiners, they see the Pragmatists as boring and unhappy control freaks. The Pragmatists regard Sunshiners as reckless and irresponsible.

Although these observations might seem true to the lazy mind, on deep reflection, they are absolutely ridiculous, if looked at in isolation. This is because every human being can be happy, a control freak, reckless and irresponsible. It is the situation or context that brings forth these behaviors.

For instance, a Sunshiner can be boring especially in areas where they have no interest. They would demonstrate drive and energy when they are engaged in an activity. They would be so engrossed in what interests them that they would sometimes ignore the needs of others. That kind of sounds like being boring to me. It can also mean bad leadership when put in the context of the network marketing industry. Leadership in the industry is about addressing the needs of your downline in terms of coaching, mentoring and support. They could be control freaks too. They always want to be in an environment that is fun, vibrant and challenging....and they would do anything it takes to ensure that happens. They guard their independence zealously in the way a control freak does.

A Pragmatist can be reckless in their haste to judge Sunshiners. The latter group really makes them uncomfortable when it comes to serious issues. They do like their energy and seemingly boundless enthusiasm sometimes but quickly get tired of it. They are very quick to scoff at the grand plans of Sunshiners, which insinuates recklessness. The perception of this group being more responsible than the Sunshiners can also be questioned. Take a situation whereby they have made their plans and tried to stick to it judiciously. The Sunshiner, who happens to be the Pragmatist's partner, feels stifled by these plans. All things being equal, you can bet your bottom and seriously devalued dollar that if a minor tweak is made to that plan and something goes wrong, the Sunshiner would be blamed for it. If that's not shirking responsibility, I don't know what is. In the network marketing industry, partners usually join forces to run their business. It is highly likely that the Pragmatist would try to take credit for when things go right and blame the Sunshiners when any risky marketing plan goes wrong. Rather than focusing on influencing change, they resort to the blame game which really annoys the Sunshiner.

It all goes to show that in haste to pigeon-hole ourselves as either Sunshiners or Pragmatists, we fail to realize that we, as humans are more complex and less black and white than we realize. I am convinced that every human being demonstrates the same kinds of behavior. The only difference is that we react differently according to the situation.

Therefore, I live you with two bits of advice rolled into one. Live your life! Live and let live!

IS A LEADER BORN OR MADE

I have been thinking about this for a long time. Is a good leader born or made? Some people say leaders are born. That may be true in the case of a monarchy for example. I am absolutely convinced that anyone can become a good leader, as long as they have a mindset to become one. What is that mindset?

A good leader is one who is committed to serving rather than being served. This means the leader must focus on meeting the needs of the people being led. In network marketing, this involves providing a significant proportion of your time, coaching, mentoring and supporting members of your team. This is the surest way to grow your business and reduce attrition.

Too often, people think of great leaders as people who have vision and go on to achieve it to a certain extent, like Adolf Hitler. I do not consider this great leadership as it is unsustainable. People eventually feel manipulated and this could affect morale and sometimes even lead to rebellion. Therefore, a good leader is also one who identifies the needs of the people he or she leads and tailors his vision to meet these needs. In network marketing, for example, a leader could set a vision of creating a certain number of millionaires from among his team within a certain period.

A good leader must be adaptable to situations and recognise that a one-size-fits all approach is not the right approach. The leader must adapt his leadership to fit the occasion, the individual or the circumstances. She must demonstrate a high level of integrity – this is very important as people are likely to follow those whom they respect and trust.

We all demonstrate traits of both good and bad leadership. We can choose to deliver more consistent good leadership through personal development and self evaluation. Most importantly, by listening to and meeting the needs of our team members, success is almost guaranteed.