If it were easy, everyone would be doing it

Posted by Jim in Affiliate Marketing, Grow Your Business, inspiration, Leadership & Influence, SEO: Search Engine Optimization 21 comments

Perhaps the greatest myth of online income is that there are “secret formulas” and “step by step” processes that ANYONE can use to earn money online.

I’ll address that insanity in a moment. But first…it’s story time class…

Now class, pull up your carpet squares while Mr. Jim tells a story!

Hi Class! I’m Mr. Silent Jim and I’ll be helping you learn a valuable lesson about Internet business that you all should know by now, but I’ve been hearing some “not so good” stories!

When I was in high school I worked 70 hours per week on average during the two summers between my sophomore, junior and senior years. I was saving up for college. The college education I went on to get consisted of “book knowledge” that I rarely if ever use today, but the lessons of those summers were far more valuable to my current success.

One of my summer jobs was at a fast food restaurant where I learned what it meant to “work hard” for every dollar, and the other job was with a local one man auto mechanic shop where steady hands, attention to the smallest detail, and the ability to FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS were the keys to keeping my boss from getting red faced and stomping about like a meanie.

When I applied for the “mechanic’s helper” job my future boss only wanted to know ONE thing (the fine art of the one question interview). His one question, as it turns out,  contained a great lesson for anyone that is hoping to learn about online business.

(That’s you and me class!)

“Do you have experience working on cars?”,  he asked.

Dramatic pause.

THIS was the interview. The truth was I had very little knowledge of cars and I was sure the interview was over as soon as I answered honestly.

Had I said “yes”, which is what I THOUGHT he was hoping to hear, I would NOT have gotten the job. Instead I was honest and said, “no – very little experience” and was surprise with his response back.

“Good”, he said.  “That means I  don’t have to make you unlearn a bunch of crap. You’re hired. How much do you want per hour?” (Sorry class, I said “crap”!)

Let’s get back to the point of this story.

If you are hoping to earn money online there are a lot of programs, gurus, courses and ebooks out there to chose from. The EASIEST thing to do it fall for the most hyped, step-by-step, funloving expert and plop down your cash.

If you’ve actually bought several of these hyped courses or books because of the great sales letters full of “shiny stuff” and psychological triggers and promises that you KNEW were too good to be true, then you actually have a DISADVANTAGE over the newbies with NO experience.

In other words, a BRAND NEW student with only basic Internet skills armed with ONE SIMPLE QUESTION is better off than you are.  My soon to be 12 year old has a HUGE advantage over you in all honesty!

You have the disadvantage of having “learned” a bunch of junk, you have the additional disadvantage of thinking your head knowledge puts you a step ahead (which it doesn’t), and worst of all you likely think that the fault is inside you somehow for not having succeeded already (because your “guru teacher” is so cool, popular and influential that it CAN’T be their fault!)

The reality is though, it’s quite likely that you’ll have to UNLEARN a bunch of garbage before you can get started succeeding in business (online or offline).

If I sound confident about all of this it’s because I’ve been a part of teaching literally THOUSANDS of people how to think the right way about online business and then how to succeed online. I recognize the “junk thinking” a mile away because I see it literally EVERY DAY.

Here are a few examples of the “junk” that is usually in the heads of my students:

• building a website is a great way to start an online business. After all, what else is there?
• affiliate income sounds fun! Let’s all do that! After all it’s so easy and anyone can do it right?
• let’s learn to drive traffic and then we can do all sorts of easy income stuff, right?!
• I already have a great product idea. I need someone to show me how to sell it on the Internet!
• someone tell me EXACTLY what to sell and THEN I can make lot’s of money!
• If I can just learn one more SEO tactic I’ll be all set!

That’s all GARBAGE, JUNK and rotten thinking that is actually CLOUDING your judgement and keeping you from the real opportunities online. I often call myself the bubble buster. It’s my duty to you to play that role if necessary.

The one question you SHOULD have been asking of your teachers all along is this:

“How many people have you taught to earn a lot of money, and WHERE IS THE PROOF?”

Perhaps I should have asked my college profs that question before taking their courses! (Imagine that for a moment as a way to fix our business education problems!)

The fact is, if ANY of this online income stuff were easy then EVERYONE would be doing it.  Simple logic tells you that if EVERYONE starts doing something then the magic is quickly gone. The opportunity is tapped out.

• The world doesn’t need another weight loss product review site.
• The world doesn’t need another ipod seller on eBay.
• The world doesn’t need your “driving traffic” skills
• The world doesn’t need another full time affiliate marketer

Why? Because EVERYONE is doing it and the MAGIC is gone (or soon will be).

Story time is over. Neatly stack your carpet squares in the corner and I’ll take any questions now.

Click the comment button

positioned for online opportunity

Posted by Jim in inspiration 8 comments

The importance of being positioned correctly for online opportunity is very overlooked.

If you have your head down, are deeply in dept, are worried (about anything), lack discipline (i.e. lazy), are waiting for a handout, are angry, fill your schedule with “junk” or even “good things”, or are unhealthy (by choice or not) then you are probably NOT in a very good position for opportunity. Rid yourself of any excess baggage one piece at a time and the opportunities will start to come into focus by the hundreds.

Just reading this, or any other creative thinker’s blog or newsletter often enough will light a fire.

Already this free newsletter has made many people permanently “unemployable” because they got so hungry for the opportunity…and many have successfully GRABBED IT.

Online I literally can not keep up with all of the profitable ideas that come my way. I now have several (nearly 10) friends that I’ve had to bring on board to help me keep up with all the opportunities and winning ideas that seem to be falling from the sky.

These are the ripple effects of being positioned for success.

Am I different from others somehow? I don’t think so.

My secret is simple (all of my “secrets” are simple actually):

I refuse to be pessimistic. I refuse to make excuses or allow those around me to do so. I take care of myself and lead a reasonably disciplined, healthy life. There’s no time for gossip, petty arguments, time or energy sucking bad habits.

As a result of being positioned I keep adding on new and exciting income streams WHILE spending as much time as I’d like with my family and doing the things that are truly important.

How’s your positioning? Make a list of the baggage you could drop and start working on it.

Want to get 10 years worth of the lessons I’ve learned online crammed into a simple book that is changing lives?

silentsalesmachine.com

Entrepreneurs Wanted!

Posted by Jim in inspiration 7 comments

“Entrepreneurs Wanted: If you are ready to be creative, misunderstood by most, overworked, overtaxed, fail 90% of the ideas you try, have multiple families rely on your leadership and profits, generously support the causes you love most, strive to be part of the “hated 1%”, and always be only as good as your last quarter… then you are ready for the challenge – join us!”

Jim Cockrum
Oct. 2011

An open offer to all Wall Street Protestors!

Posted by Jim in inspiration 6 comments

Hey Wall Street protestors: No one owes you a job or a loan, but my offer stands! Send me a pic of you holding a sign at a protest and I’ll give you any of my courses free (your choice). All I ask is that you let me know what you think after you complete the course. I’ve helped thousands of people start successful businesses online – this is a great opportunity and I’m 100% serious! Reply as a comment to this blog post and I’ll get you taken care of personally. BONUS: I’ll also send you a free copy of my best seller that just launched! Click here to see details on it

My “Free Marketing 101…” book has launched and it’s TEARING up the charts!

Posted by Jim in Creative Ideas, Email Marketing tips, Finding Cutomers, Grow Your Business, inspiration, Outsourcing, Traffic Generation 127 comments

GET THE BOOK HERE

GET THE AUDIO VERSION HERE

The story behind this book:

I was approached by a major publisher nearly one year ago (the “For Dummies” publisher – Wiley and Sons) and they asked me to write a book about how to START or GROW a business (or spread and idea, a cause, an organization etc.) using free and virtually free marketing ideas.

After nearly a year of hard work on this book I think you’ll love what I’ve come up with.

What made me qualified to write this?

From the perspective of the publisher I’d achieved something that many others would like to accomplish. I’d grown multiple successful and creative online businesses…and had done it WITHOUT ever needing to invest a wad of cash. In the rare instances where I did spend any money it was either on inventory that would quickly sell for very nice profits, or it was nominal expenses like $5 for a video, or $30 to have a long audio transcribed into writing etc.

I’ve been a ravenous consumer of effective and “Free Marketing” concepts for over 25 years.

From here forward I’m considering the self appointed title of:  “World’s Foremost Expert on Free Marketing Ideas”.    You like it?   ;0)

Seriously though – the book is CRAMMED with my best ideas and the first few dozen reviews are all RAVING.   It’s so stuffed with great ideas that they asked me to shorten it but I refused. Since they initially asked if I had 100 ideas to fill such a book and I agreed…I decided to deliver those 100+ ideas on MY terms.

The final product is the best ideas from my nearly decade of success online. It’s not a cover to cover type of book though. Whether you have five minutes or six hours to spend with this book I hope you’ll walk away inspired (that was my goal).

I can sniff out winning ideas like a bomb sniffing dog on caffeine. It’s a gift and a curse, but I tried to capture that way of thinking and put it all into a single book.

Click the book image or visit 101freemarketing.com for more info.

Want to see the reviews from readers? Click Here for Amazon’s Reader Reviews Page

Tearing up the charts! It’s a #1 Top Seller Worldwide!

Can you help spread the word?

Finally, here’s my invitation to you to help spread the word about this book. I also explain where the proceeds are going (I’m not keeping them).  You’ll also see a video of my wife, kids and I seeing the book for the first time ever just a few days before it hit store shelves – it was a fun family moment!

Be Sure to buy more than just one copy!!

o   Booster seat for toddlers
o   Have any business minded friends? They’ll love you!
o   Have non-business minded friends with insomnia? They’ll love you too!
o   Christmas isn’t that far off!
o   Sell them on eBay? (or Amazon) and get most if not all of your money back? (the book is still at pre-launch pricing temporarily but that WILL change soon.)

Have a question? Leave a comment and someone will help you out.