Keith Goodrum

I remember as a kid we would go to my uncle’s lake to go swimming. It really wasn’t his lake. It was by his house. But for some reason my brothers & me use to call it his lake.

Anyhow we would go out on the dock and get ready to jump in for the first time. This was a deep lake in Michigan, and in the summer the water would be cold the first time you jumped in.

All of us kids would hesitate to jump in because of the shock of the cold water. We would stand there swinging our arms like we were going to dive in headfirst. But, no one would move. Then the conversation would turn into a back-n-forth of “You go first” “No, you go first” “I dare you to go first” “No, I dare youuu to go first.”

Then someone would say. “On the count of three we all jump in together” Head nods all around… of course you knew not to actually jump in on the count of three. You were trying to get some ’sucker’ to go first.

OK, so on the count of three…

ONE!

TWWOOOO!

THREE!

And nobody jumps in… You had tried your best fakey move to get someone else to go first, but it didn’t work. Since everybody had tried their best fakey move to draw someone else we were all slightly off balanced…. laughing and carrying on. At that point all it would take is the right push to make you fall in the water. So, you would reach over and give your neighbor a good shove.

Unfortunately you weren’t the only one to get the same idea, and usually everyone would go into the lake.

Hitting that water felt like jumping into ice water. It just grabs you and takes your breath away. But after the initial shock wears off, and you’ve been swimming around you don’t hesitate jumping in again and again

Isn’t that what’s like when we try something for the first time?

You get right up to the edge and peer in… You keep asking others if they’re going to do it. You might make a couple ‘fakey’ moves, but stop short.

Then finally you either jump in, or someone gives you a little push. At first there’s the shock, but it wears off. Pretty soon you are wondering why you took so long to get going.

I know I messed around getting the blog up. I’ve been playing around with the idea for a longtime. But, I kept stalling & putting off launching this thing. There’s one thing I can say about this now… Why did it take me so long?

So, what’s taking you so long?

A couple weeks ago in a blog post What’s The Greatest Success Secret Of All Time? I answered it was action.  Just jump in the lake… before you know it the initial shock will wear off and you’ll wonder what took you so long.

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Ryan Healy made a great post titled Does Transparency Hurt Business? Transparency in this case is when you let others see your mistakes & weaknesses.

Personally I don’t think it does. In fact I believe it actually helps your business. By laying it out there warts and all, it shows you are human. And in spite of the missteps, hiccups & obstacles things are still getting done.

I also like to think that people see these things, and are inspired in a way. They may think… if that dork can do this, imagine how much I could accomplish.

Speaking of dorks…

Usually on Fridays I post the TGIF Video Book review. And I was recording it today… when halfway through it stopped. The message on the screen said “Memory Full!” So, I cleared out the memory and went back to recording. This time about 2 minutes into the new recording the lo-battery light started flashing. Hey I bet I could get this done before the battery ran out… right?

Since you’ve read this far you know the answer was wrong. The recorder turned off about minute later. So, I started looking around for the charger… I still can’t find the *!?#%&@ thing.

I’ve made a command decision, and am postponing the TGIF Video Book Review for the week. It will resume it regularly scheduled programming next week. Who knows maybe I’ll find the charger by then.

Transparency Shows You Don’t Have To Be Perfect To Succeed 

In an earlier post titled Help I’ve Fallen… & I refuse To Get Back Up I talked about some of the mistakes I’ve made on this blog.  I’ve tried to be transparent and shown the mistakes I’m making along the way.  My intention is to show that not everything zips along according to plan.  You just work with the hand your dealt, and make the best of the situation.

So, do you agree?  Does transparency help a businesses, or person?

Post a comment, and let me know your thoughts.

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Ryan Healy the other day listed on his blog The 12 Books That Changed My Life. He wrote that he loves to read and track each book he reads.

In fact, I began logging every book I finished starting in the 8th grade, and I’ve been doing it ever since. Every January, I close out the prior year, print my log, hole-punch it, and put it in my book log binder.

It’s nothing fancy, really. Just the book title, author, a few sentences about the book (including what I did or didn’t like), and a rating.

Wow, that’s impressive. I’m lucky if I can keep track of the bookmarker while reading a book.

Anyhow here are my choices of the books that changed my life.

1. Never Give In by Stephen Mansfield

This book is an excellent study in the leadership skills of Winston Churchill. Many of the leadership lessons I strive to follow.

2. The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

The principles taught in this book are simple, yet effective. The story is entertaining, and a quick read. When I was done, I realized that the story had taught me the fundamentals of financial planning. Stuff I still to this day use.

3. The Tough-Minded Optimist by Norman Vincent Peale

I had been around people who practiced “positive thinking”. They would run around saying… everything’s great… Nothing was negative & the glass was always half-full. This attitude always seemed odd to me. It came across like you were suppose to stick your head in the sand, ignore the situation and everything would magically fix itself.

This book showed me that it was OK to recognize things for what they were. Then get tough, deal with it and move on. Changed my way of thinking.

4. Theodore Roosevelt An Autobiography

I like to read autobiographies of great leaders, and Theodore Roosevelt was one of our greatest leaders. Many people do not realize that he laid the foundation that made the US the superpower it is today. It was inspiring to see the obstacles he overcame to become president.

5. The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey

This is the book that converted me to Christianity. I never understood the true meaning of salvation until I read this book. I could go on about this, but it’s as simple as the last 2 sentences.

6. The Ultimate Marketing Plan by Dan Kennedy

My Window cleaning business was slowly circling the drain until I picked up this book at Kinko’s. This book was a radical paradigm shift in my way of doing business. I can clearly point to this one book as the reason I built a profitable business.

7. The Bible

If I was stranded on a desert island & could only take one book, then this would be the one.

8. Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman by Merle Miller

The one thing that got Harry Truman into so much trouble was he spoke his mind. Because of that trait he is probably one of the most under rated presidents of our time.

The buck stops here was on his desk while president. Taking responsibility was a strong theme throughout his life. That principle left a strong impression on me.

9. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This Pulitzer Prize winning book was required reading in high school. It made a huge impression on me concerning race, and standing up for the right cause… no matter what others around you are saying.

Those are the books that greatly influenced me. I’m glad that Ryan wrote this post, and asked others to put up their list. It was fun to sit down and write about why these books influenced me. In fact I’ve decided to read the books on this list again. It will be interesting to see what I get out of them this time around.

OK, what about you? Make your list; post it on your blog, and link back to Ryan’s post. It will be interesting to see the books that have influenced you.

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Ebay just radically changed the way many people run their internet business. In case you missed it here is the announcement… http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200803241300132.html

There are people who list a downloadable product for say .01. They sell the product to someone; collect their email address and then using an autoresponder try to sell them other products in the same subject. It is an effective way to build a list.

Ebay drives a ton of traffic to its site. And the traffic is people with credit card in hand looking to buy something. That’s what I’d call qualified, targeted traffic.

It’s a great model to build your list.

Well, at least until March 31st.

The new rules for the time being are you have to use the classified section to list digital download products. Currently it costs $10.00 to host a classified ad on Ebay.

This rule change seems to be sending shock waves though the eBay community. And for good reason… a powerful marketing tactic is being withdrawn.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a big chunk of people relying on this as their main source of list building. Based on the buzz I’ve seen out there this is probably hitting close to home for a lot of people.

Now, there will be people who stick out their chest and claim that this is only a minor method they use to build their list. But human nature being what it is leads me to believe otherwise.

It’s tempting when you find one method to generate traffic, or build lists to focus on the one method. In fact they will focus on the most profitable method at the expense of all other methods. Then when that method goes the way of the dodo bird, folks are lost.

Relying on 3rd Party’s for traffic generation is a risky strategy.

This is especially dangerous when a 3rd party like Ebay, Google or even the latest traffic darling Entrecard controls the method. When you rely on a 3rd party you are one policy change from being locked out.

Ebay isn’t the first nor will be the last to make changes that affected entire business models. Why will they do such things? Because they can. So, why put yourself in the position to be at the whim of another policy change.

Here are 7 free traffic generation tactics you can do to diversify:

1. Write a blog post about your free digital download.

2. Submit the post to a blogcarnival

3. Leave a relevant comment on another blogs.

4. Write an article and submit it to some article sites like ezinearticle.com or goarticles.com

5. Add the digital product’s page to your signature line and post on forums.

6. Record a video about the product and upload to video sites.

7. Setup a Squidoo page with a download link on the page.

Over the next few weeks, and months people will come up with ideas to continue using eBay as a list-building tool. But, why not diversify and increase your marketing effectiveness?

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OK, here’s a video that was talked about by Robert Stover from Copy Ideas over on the Copywriter’s board. It over the top, but drives the point home.

Enjoy!

I like to post videos like this not only for you, but also for myself. It’s good to look at them for an extra motivational kick.

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Or are just in love with the idea of having one?

I was thinking about this the other day. You see people all over wanting to start their own business. It’s one of the great dreams. Right up there with owning your own house.

You’ll notice I didn’t say “Great American Dream” because it really is a global dream. Something people the world over aspire to achieve.

You see studies reporting over 70% of employees want to quit & start their own business. Many even report being miserable in their current jobs or careers. They are not just unhappy… they can’t stand their jobs.

Yet, why do so many not follow up on their dreams?

I think the reason most people don’t start is because they like the idea of having their own Internet business. They don’t like the idea of actually running it.

Here’s what I mean by that…

They want the benefits and rewards of being in business for themselves. They want to call their own shots, travel the world & take any day off they please. They want to put in the hours they choose, not the ones someone else tells them. They don’t like the idea of being told when to come to work, when to take lunch or when it’s time to go home.

They want FREEDOM!

They also want to make money online. At least enough so all their financial problems go away. Many people even want to make six or seven figures online.

It seems like most people want to flip a switch and have an instant online business pop up in the front room. They seem to buy into the “don’t lift a finger, and you’ll get instant riches.” Program.

Unfortunately that’s not the case. The magical six-figure Internet business is not going to drop into their lap. It takes work to run a business… offline or online. No one is going to do it for them. They are going to have to put in the effort to build an online business.

But most people don’t want to put in the effort it takes to run a business.

Now, I didn’t say it would take a massive investment of time, and hours to make it happen. But, It does take work, and a strong plan.

The key is to find the right plan. How do you do that? How can you tell who is the real McCoy? There are loads of people running around claiming they have the true answer…. and many of them haven’t done what they teach.

The answer is simple… look for the proof.

Is this person creating the business you want? Or, do they have success stories from people who have taken what they were taught & succeeded?

If you look to the right you will see several in the blogroll who have the right plan. People like Terry Dean, James Brausch, Ed Rivis, Aaron Brandon, The Kaizen Business. You can get courses, coaching and newsletters from them on how to build your business.

Short on cash? Well, two of them have intern programs that will teach you for free. James Brausch & Jim at The Kaizen Business are two you can join today.

So, do you really want to be your own boss?

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