Thursday, December 17, 2009

The Most Vital Ingredient to Your Business Success

How to Avoid Start-up Failure

As a father of energetic kids I can remember when they each wanted to try sports for the first time. I wanted to find a good coach that would teach the fundamentals, encourage high effort and highlight the small often overlooked positives as they started out the uphill battle of learning something completely foreign to them. I wanted them to be coached by someone who knew what they were teaching and loved the sport they coached.

I certainly wouldn't use a coach who wanted to teach my child because they want to be the most popular coach or just because of the money they would make but because they were rewarded internally when a young kid "got it", started to experience self-driven success and became passionate about the game.

When it came to the fundamentals, skills and techniques, I wanted them to be taught right the first time because relearning can crush a beginners spirit, snuffing out the fire to excel at something they could be great at while causing them to feel that everyone who was taught correctly is actually better than them because they don't have what it takes. Nothing is more gut wrenching than to see any child have to needlessly experience such emotional sabotage.

Starting a new online business is exactly the same. Watching so many experience that same demoralizing "emotional sabotage" is one of the main reasons I decided to write and give away my eBooks. I've preached this before but I can't say it enough: with an increasing number of so called instructors peddling programs or products touting their ability to teach something that they in fact do not practice so that you can experience success that they themselves have not attained, navigating this minefield has never been more critical.

I wouldn't let my son learn basketball from a coach that taught him to punch a kid in the face in order to get a rebound, or to only shoot three pointers when he can't even make a layup and refuses to show him how. I say that knowing full well that there are a myriad of new entrepreneurs desiring success that are trying to obtain that success by taking some of the same kind of business advice. I've seen more aspiring entrepreneurs than I can count be so desperate to follow someone else's map to reach financial freedom and make money online that they sacrifice the very attributes that would have otherwise made them successful.

There is a debilitating cycle among new online marketers that creates a financial dream eating black hole. You see someone marketing a product or business opportunity that knows how to sell its industry "secrets" by exploiting your needs and wants. You then justify the investment, go all out following the directions with full energy high effort before engaging the intellect you possess to stop and say, "will this truly meet my needs?" and "is what they are saying designed purely to sell me?" or "do the deliverables make good business sense?".

After making a largely emotional decision, you throw all the effort and perseverance you have into it, only to be let down. As you begin to explore hope to restore your faith in your dream and your abilities you find another product that is marketed in the same way. So desperate to be sold you justify why this sales pitch is different and get on the same ride which again leaves you with your effort tank empty having adopted a bankrupt view of your abilities.

Becoming convinced that you were foolish to ever dream the dreams you had, you adjust your expectations back down to becoming content with a 9-5 job. This cycle is why there is such a high attrition rate for online marketers. The good news for you is that knowing this is the case empowers you to break the cycle.

If you are new to Internet or affiliate marketing or haven't experienced the type of success you feel reflect your effort as a result of inaccurate instruction or poor coaching, I urge you to be very deliberate with whom you take instruction from moving forward. It doesn't have to be Learn2earnitnow. There are outstanding sources of coaching, training and insight to spotlight your path to success but you have to search diligently, know what to look for and not be swayed into making a purely emotional decision.

Commit yourself to not making a knee-jerk reaction based purely on results they "claim" they have obtained. These can be easily misrepresented or falsified. Here is a good mental checklist that can help you through this process.

• Are the results over-sensationalized in the marketing?

• Can you relate to the message being conveyed?

• Does the individual deliver convincing credibility regarding:

- Personal & professional integrity

- Passion for teaching/coaching/instructing (rather than just money)

- Share your values

- Convey a true "give first" philosophy

• In their writing and video production do they:

- Portray themselves as unprofessional in video and in print?

- Do they display multiple grammatical errors?

- Is there attention given to detail that you'd expect from a leader?

• Do you desire to achieve their level of success through the methods that they've attained them?

If these questions are answered to your satisfaction then most price-points are not as much of an issue. You will find that they are only an issue when there is a lack of trust or credibility involved in which case any investment would be considered too much until the questions and concerns listed above are answered to your satisfaction.

If you've been emotionally sabotaged and felt punched in the stomach, do not let it defeat you. Commit moving forward to be discerning whose instruction you choose to follow, build a strong business foundation and be patient. Commit to stay out of your comfort zone, take inventory of your strengths, bring value and continuously learn so you can become an expert in the business you're in.

Your Coach & Fan

R. Patrick Daugherty
The Biz Coach

http://learn2earnitnow.biz
http://thebizcoachblog.com

Mr. Daugherty is known for having a passion for coaching business executives and entrepreneurs in the art of identifying, attracting and retaining top talent while effectively communicating, mentoring and coaching them to reach their personal and professional goals. Over his 15 year career he has been fortunate enough to have consulted and coached leaders in a wide range of industries from international technology firms and large insurance conglomerates to numerous staffing & recruiting firms as well as state & local policy makers and grass roots organizations. He is now utilizing that wealth of experience to help entrepreneurs of small and home-based business. Patrick is married to his beautiful wife Diane and live with their three children in central Pennsylvania.

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