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If It Were Easy

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Everyone would be doing it.

If being a bestselling author was easy, everyone would be writing their own book and becoming the next bestselling author.

If having a million Twitter followers was easy, everyone would be on Twitter talking with over a million followers.

If having a mansion was easy, everyone would move into a mansion or turn their house into a mansion.

If having a successful business was easy, everyone would be an entrepreneur, and none of them would quit. Sadly, over 90% of them quit within the first 5 years.

If coming up with a big idea was easy, everyone would be thinking of big ideas. The people who can’t think of big ideas sell products similar to their competition.

If running the mile was easy, everyone would be running that mile without stopping. It isn’t as easy as it appear.

However, it’s not easy. That’s why few people do the difficult tasks. The safety zone is not safe at all. Everyone is in the safety zone which makes individuals in the safety zone become invisible.

Becoming a bestselling author, having a million Twitter followers, having a mansion, having a successful business, coming up with a big idea, and running the mile are not easy. As we get more experience, these tasks become easier.

After writing a lot of books, an author can build a following and eventually become a bestselling author.

After consistently tweeting for years and going viral, it is possible for someone to reach a million followers without knowing how to sing well or buying a million followers.

Everyone who started with a business started at the bottom. Macintosh computers were first made in garage. Now Apple is a multibillion dollar company that pays billions of dollars in taxes. They can pay those billion dollars in taxes and still make a profit with their Macs, iPhones, iPads, and more. Amazon started out as a bookstore. Now Jeff Bezos is a billionaire who recently bought the Washington Post. Not bad for “another bookstore.”

When someone thinks of a big idea, and creates a business based on that big idea, that person has a good chance of becoming successful. Twitter, Facebook. Instagram, Pinterest, and Google are some of the big ideas. The person who came up with an idea for any of these social networks (or Google) is either a millionaire or a billionaire. That’s not bad for an idea that started out on paper. Back in 2004, people would have looked at you funny if you talked about Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Google was around at that time, but Google+ was not.

Running the mile becomes easy after a lot of practice. People give up when they run the mile for the first time because it’s excruciating. The people who run day after day will be able to easily run the mile.

It’s not easy, but with practice, dedication, and commitment, you will make it easy.

When Plan A Fails

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Repetition is the act of doing the same thing multiple times. However, there are some lessons we can learn from this word.

If you plant a seed and don’t water it, the seed will shrivel up and die. If you plant another seed, and you don’t water it, don’t expect different results. That seed will shrivel up and die as well.

When you see something isn’t working, you need to make a change. Those seeds shriveled up and died because they weren’t getting enough water. Giving them the same amount of water doesn’t solve the problem. You need to make a change. Plan A isn’t working at all.

Start by giving the seed more water. If the seed still shrivels up and dies, you know you didn’t give the seed enough water. However, if the seed dies because you poured in too much water, you know a change needs to be made.

When Plan B doesn’t work, that doesn’t give you the option to go back to Plan A. If Plan A didn’t work before, it won’t work again. What you need to do is go for Plan C. Give the seed water frequently. Give the seed some water in the morning, some water in the afternoon, and some in the evening.

If Plan C doesn’t work, you don’t go back to Plan A or Plan B. You go to Plan D, Plan E, Plan F, Plan G, and any other plan you get to. If you end up getting to Plan Z, go to Plan AB. If something didn’t work for you the first time, chances are it won’t work the second time. If the car’s engine doesn’t start, and you don’t do anything to your car’s engine, it won’t start if you try again. You have to get that engine fixed.

Some people have many plans that don’t work. It took Thomas Edison over 10,000 experiments to finalize the first working lightbulb. Imagine all of the Plan A’s and Plan B’s Edison had. One of the plans worked because he knew what didn’t work. Plan A didn’t work so he moved on to Plan B. Plan B didn’t work so he moved on to Plan C.

We can’t continue investing money and time into something that doesn’t work. TV ads are not as effective as they used to be (I’ve been reading Purple Cow). When Plan A fails, it’s necessary to move on to the next plan. If you don’t want to give up on your business, make a change to your business. Plan B doesn’t always mean giving up everything you have worked on. Plan B means trying to find a way to make something work. As long as it works, you don’t have to come up with any plans. When Plan B doesn’t work anymore, it’s time to move on to Plan C.

As long as you don’t give up, you will find a successful plan. The guy who came up with the movie Rocky was so poor that he had to sell his dog so he could buy himself food (he ended up getting his dog back. It’s an incredible story although I don’t have enough time to go in detail about it). He had tons of Plan A’s and Plan B’s, but now we know the story of Rocky. We all know the Rocky music when we hear it.

How The Hidden Ball Trick Worked

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The Tampa Bay Rays got the Dodgers with the hidden ball trick more than a week ago. Evan Longoria put the tag on Juan Uribe who took a small lead from third base.

So how did it work? How was the baseball able to be thrown from first base to third base without anyone on the Dodgers seeing it?

The first reason it worked was because when a batter gets out, the catcher throws to the third baseman who throws to another position player and so on. It’s a pattern that people can follow. After seeing the same thing happening so many times, that pattern was expected to always happen. We are creatures of habit.

When the first baseman got the baseball, he threw it to the shortstop which was different. Loney, the first baseman, usually throws the ball to the pitcher. Then, the shortstop throws to Longoria, the third baseman.

Another reason the trick was executed perfectly was because it wasn’t obvious. The Rays players threw the baseball casually.

Throwing the baseball casually prevented the Rays from rushing the play. If Loney threw the baseball as hard as he could at the shortstop, Uribe would have seen it. Also, if Loney decided to throw the baseball right to Longoria, Uribe would have definitely noticed that something was going on. The Rays were patient throughout the entire play.

Finally, the umpire is the person who calls a person safe or out. Before Longoria applies the tag to Uribe, he makes sure the third base umpire sees the baseball in his glove. Then, he tags out Uribe who is called out by the umpire.

The Dodgers ended up winning that game 5-0, but the Rays pulled off quite the trick. Uribe and the Dodgers were able to laugh about it at the end of the game.

The First Adopters

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Decide how well your product does. The first adopters of your product are the ones who decide how well your product does. Most people won’t tell others about your product unless it’s bad.

After the first adopters comes a majority of the other people who end up buying your product. The early majority is followed by the last majority, and then the laggards.

If the first adopters like your product, they will share it. If you please the first adopters, you will be able to please the early majority, late majority, and the laggards. Some of your first adopters are also going to be your top clients. Look for those top clients. They are the ones who are going to tell the most people about your product.

10 Motivational Quotes To Brighten Up Your Day

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I decided to come up with some motivational quotes to brighten your day. After you read these motivational quotes, I want you to turn your ideas into a reality.

“Success is the bumpy road that’s less traveled. However, at the end of the bumpy road is all of the treasure.”

“Success and a good attitude conquers all fears.”

“Thinking of an idea and implementing the idea are two different things. When you implement your idea, you become a member of the elite.”

“Before you decide to turn on the TV, play a game on your phone, or surf on the internet, ask yourself what you did for your business today.”

“Your destiny doesn’t create you. You create your own destiny.”

“We all have enough time to be successful.”

“There is no time to look back, but there is time to move forward.”

“Not quitting is the entire battle. Once you know you’re not quitting, you’ve already won.”

“Ignore the competition. Soon enough, they won’t be able to ignore you.”

“We already have the tools we need to become successful.”

Four Marketing Truths

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  1. Being consistent is not enough. You have to be more than consistent. If you come out with a video every week, that’s great. If you come out with a video every week and one tweet every hour, that’s great too. If you can come out with one video every week, one tweet every hour, and 20 Instagram photos every day (those photos would be related to your niche), that’s superb. I used to only publish 1 blog post every day in the morning. Now I publish 2 blog posts every day, and my traffic has jumped up dramatically.
  2. People want to see what they are actually getting. Back when TV advertising was all well, people were able to see what they were actually getting. People want little tidbits of information whether it is in the form of blog posts, videos, or preferably, both. When people see a lot of good reviews, they are more likely to buy a product.
  3. It’s not about you, but it’s not about all of your clients either. Identify your top clients and shape your business around those clients. They are the ones who are going to come back often and tell more people about you. If you want to learn the whole process of doing that, I highly recommend getting a copy of The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz.
  4. The ways to properly market a product are constantly changing. Be aware of those changes and react to them. The future way to successfully market a product is with mobile. In fact, more people are using mobile as the days go by.