Virtual Marketeers

Archive for the ‘Personal Growth & Development’ Category

I’m sure that a few of you have had times when you realised just how human you are and how easy it is to make such a small mistake in your writing or maybe have an error in judgement in a business decision we make (I know I have)… maybe you sit there pondering what to do.

I find that it is much better to *blush* admit to the mistake straight up.  We are all human and we all make mistakes, even in business.  No point in pondering the what ifs… because we can’t go back when we have already moved forwards.

The funny thing is that sometimes making a mistake or having an error in judgement can work in our favour.  “How would that possibly work in my favour?” you are probably thinking.

• Proof that you are human just like everyone else – which can be a really good thing at times.
• Gives the opportunity to work through a problem and learn new things.
• Encourages for you to feel humility and therefore be sympathetic to others needs.
• Possibility to maybe leverage new business or personal projects on those newly learned skill, the ones that have been learned through their mistakes.

Sure, there are positives and negatives to making mistakes.  I prefer to look at what positive has come from the mistake or error in judgement – and look forwards, rather than looking back.

Would love to hear your thoughts on whether mistakes are a good or a bad thing… or maybe a bit of both.

Two of my favourite topics, good coffee – and information!

Coffee first… I much prefer the taste of percolated and shop bought coffee.

When I set up the coffee percolator the other day I missed adding one of the parts that is absolutely critical to make good coffee – the filter.  Impatiently I waited, wondering why the coffee was taking so very long.  Yes really, it was so slow… I wasn’t just being an impatient coffee drinker.

I turned off the coffee maker and pondered on it for a moment as I swished the very dark and grainy coffee around in the bottom of the pot.  It looked very much like a swamp would look when it’s got a lot of algae… except that it was brown.

My first thought, “Oh no, my coffee machine is broken!”  I very quickly decided that nah; that absolutely could not, would not be the case and blindly went in search for the problem.

Oh dear… you have probably guessed it by now…

I had forgotten to add the plastic filter insert to the coffee percolator. That explained it.  That would definitely, 100% be the cause of dark brown coffee with chunks in it.

Rather than wasting it, I offered it around to all my family (lol, no way!!!).  Nah, I ended up disposing of the whole 10 cups (and what a waste of coffee that was).

Mmm, now to start again… add the filter… watch the coffee as it streams through to make sure it’s doing what I want for it to do this time.  Looks good… and tastes perfect!

Your probably wondering what any of this has to do with filtering information?

Think about the masses of information on the web – and offline as well actually.

Every single day we are provided many opportunities to stumble upon more and more information.  Some is really good information… some is useless… and some really just shouldn’t be out there.

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If you’ve seen the movie Sliding Doors and you understood the concept, then you are likely to understand the concept that I am about to explain.  This movie is about there being two sides to every story and also helps us to understand that things can very easily change… doors open and close all the time.

It is basically to say that if we were to get up 5 minutes late (as an example)… then who knows, that 5 minutes might be the cause of that series of unfortunate events that followed.  It could invariably be the difference between catching or missing the train, not because you were necessarily running late, but because various stumbling blocks were put into your way because of the time that you were passing through.  You missed it by only a second, which then is then likely to have a major effect on the upcoming events for the rest of the day.

If you think about it, this concept can be applied to many parts of our life.  If you ponder a bit on the broader concept surrounding this one, then it will help you to understand what I am going to speak on next.  I would like to discuss today the concept that life is always subject to change.  This applies each and every moment according to the decisions and choices that we make.

In particular I would like to discuss a bit further those things that have impact on our lives, that are subject to change… those things that are either going to catapult us forward, or hold us back in business and also in live:

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If you are an internet marketer, or are interested in becoming one and aren’t already subscribed to ‘Eric’s Tips’, then you might like to head over to his blog and check out some of his lessons.  I have linked you to Lesson #59, which is about List Building so that you can get an idea of the quality of information that Eric provides.

Lesson #59: Introduction to List Building

His free newsletters is setup like an e-course, where you receive the video lesson’s through in the order that he originally posted them.  That way you can work through his lessons at your own pace and won’t miss out on any of them.

I really look forward to receiving his lessons through to my email, as I know that I will achieve a more solid understanding of internet marketing from each and every video lesson.

Some of the topics that he covers in his lessons are finding a profitable niche, how to create a website, how to put audio on your website, the legalities of owning an online business, how to write web copy and much much more.  Eric delivers the information in bite sized pieces and provides the information in a really simplified and easy to understand format.

At the moment if you sign up to his free newsletter, you will also receive 5 free e-books!  This really is a great resource without the e-Books.

I am absolutely loving life at the moment. There are so many chapters in life that have really shaped me; plus right at the moment there are some real challenges to speak of – the really positive, forward thinking and forward moving type of challenges.

Toward the end of last year and at the beginning of this year I had been pondering on short-term and long-term goals and plans. It has been really awesome having a good think about where I am at right now and where I am heading.

Have you ever blown on a flame to get it to ’spark up’ or burn a little better?  To some blowing on the flame might seem like a really strange thing to do… maybe your thought immediately was, “Wouldn’t doing this blow the flame right out?”

With a larger fire it doesn’t make the flame go out; actually it does quite the opposite.  If you have a wooden fireplace or stove then chances are that you probably have used this method to get the fire burning really well before.  Air is an essential requirement to keeping a fire going, without air the flame would be stifled and go out. This is similar to our lives. Without the thoughts, ideas and choices that we have along the way, the flame would most likely become only a faint glow.

So did have you taken the time needed to refuel your flame…, maybe at the beginning of the year, or maybe even more recently?

As things change in our lives it is important that we reflect on whether the changes that we have made are working for us, or whether we need to maybe consider further change to get things running smoothly once again. For example, if a new client had just recently, or was about to engage your services, would you revisit and revise your current goals? To me, it is of utmost importance to revisit both business and life goals and ideas on a regular basis, especially when a major change of any description has come into my life.

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Maybe it’s just me that finds it to be quite stressful reading some (not all) newsletters and sales pages; or maybe you’ve had some similar experiences… I don’t know?

Both my personal and business experience tells me that [big breath] the “sign up right now, there is never going to be another offer like this, you are going to kick yourself if you do not buy it NOW” type of request that tenses up our shoulders and throws the butterflies around in our tummy are so not worth those feelings.

I have come to learn that when a person uses a sales pitch like this, there is a probability the person on the other end of the computer is trying to make you purchase with your emotions – on a whim!  This person really, really, really doesn’t want you to purchase with your brain, because there is a less likely chance of a sale right now.

With this tactic, these people might capture an instant sale with a good many of their customers, but I question how many customers will be repeat customers and whether there might be a bad taste left in the mouth if I was to knowingly push a sale onto a customer?

Got some thoughts on this?  I would love to hear your thoughts on how to best retain clients, and whether you would consider the “you must buy right now” sales pitch to be moral.
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Pondering on the thought of our own personalities and how they really do shape our business, career and our personal lives through the many choices that we make along the way.

One thing that really stands out in my own individuality is that I seem to be one of those people absolutely 100% made to work from home, in my own business.  I have been reminded of this time and time again throughout my life journey.  I love working from home, my focus is really good… performance is right up there; and so I tend to try to guide my business in this direction.

And yes, I have taken on roles working in an office environment.  Although I still do work that is very good, after a time I start to feel somewhat stressed and pressured by the experience, and this may in turn eventually effect my output, and my health and family life.

I see it as being a really positive and powerful thing that I am able to recognize this.

It’s interesting, I have some friends and work colleagues who, very differently to me have great problems with procrastination when they work from home.  They just can’t seem to be able to concentrate on the task at hand, and have great difficulty in achieving their goals.  They instead might find themselves doing the washing, or the ironing, or tidying an already tidy desk, just so that they don’t have to focus on the task at hand.

Again, it is really important for this person to recognize this so that they can guide themselves in the right direction.
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So, after the last article I wrote, I may have left you thinking, “how does positive thinking relate back to marketing, or even to owning and running your own business?”

As I see it, it has a huge impact on how you run your business, and whether or not you receive and grow your client base through your business.

Positive thinking and doing gets you noticed!  Proactive thinking and doing also gets you noticed and in a good way!  Planning for the future and goal setting gets you noticed in a good way!  Putting positive systems in place to help grow your business gets you noticed!  Plus these things have a really positive impact on your life, and how you do business.

As a business owner positive thinking is a ‘personality trait’ that you want to have! If a business does not focus on positive thoughts and actions, then how might you expect for your positive personality to shine through to its clientele?

To think positive thoughts, and focus on positive talk and action you are setting up your business for success.  After all, positive people attract positive business.  Positive people also attract and implement creative and very innovative ideas.

So I hope that I have inspired you in these last two articles to focus on and foster positive thoughts, and in doing so open the doors even wider for your business success.

If you haven’t already done so, you might like to head over and have a read of the previous article I posted, The Question of Positive Thinking.

I have found this topic to be a bit of a difficult one to write on because it is personal to me, and I continue to learn and grow… I am no expert in this area.  That is why it is a question, rather than an answer, because these are my thoughts.

I am sure that there are some things in this article that others may possibly disagree on, or might maybe like to expand on.  I do welcome these thoughts and ideas in the comments section.

There are so many things that might happen in each and every one of our lives that might have a positive, and on the other hand a negative impact.

With so many differing experiences in each and every one of our lives, and so many ways to handle things… each person might handle, or even see the same situation in a different light. Our seeing the situation in a different light, and acting on it in a different way will often determine which direction our live heads.  It continually moulds us as a person, for better or for worse.
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