Not for the faint hearted or easily offended
I hope you had a great New Year and are looking forward to 2010 with the same eager anticipation that we all are here, at the Internet Marketing Review.
This year will prove to be the turning point for many businesses as we see the worst of the changing economy behind us and new opportunities presenting themselves on an almost daily basis…BUT we have to have our “Heads up and Eyes Open” to spot and act them.
This time of year sees two types of people raise their head within the Internet Marketing Review community… and both are polar opposites of each other.
The first sees new members come onboard who want to use the Internet Marketing Review to help them start a brand new online business or give an existing business the kick it needs to motor along this year and I welcome each and every one of them.
We also see a number of existing Gold Members make the step up to the Elite Gold+ Level as they look to really push on with their businesses in 2010 and beyond (Next Gold+ Meeting Day is on February 7th – spend a full day with Neil and I as well as other Gold+ Members).
The second type of person we hear from are people who call, write and email to cancel their membership…yes cancel, how dare they! 
Although it isn’t many people, it happens every single year at this time as people look to review what they are doing in life and business.
When a person cancels (not by telephone) I will often call a number of them to ask would they mind saying why to help us improve the IMR.
And the excuses (not reasons) they give make me shake my head in disbelief.
Here are the main excuses given in no particular order:
I’m cutting back
I can understand some people being in a strained financial position (I’ve been there in the past) however what I can’t understand is people using it as an excuse to give up on their business, dreams, goals and aspirations. The IMR is £24.95 per month and I firmly believe that we provide the best information, inspiration and motivation coupled with excellent help and support for ANYONE wanting to start and grow their own online business.
I can almost guarantee that this person will go on to spend at least another $500 in the coming months chasing the next shiny bright object (product) that is released. They’d rather chase the dream and mistake buying activity for accomplishment, as this takes work.
I don’t have the time to read the Newsletter/Listen to the CD/ Visit the Forum/Membership Site
Now, if I let it, this excuse could make me mad!
This is classic ‘loser’ behaviour I’m afraid…sounds harsh but it’s true.
You see, instead of changing their behaviour to what winners and successful people do this person would rather stick their head in the sand and ignore what needs to be done.
The classic “I don’t have time” excuse comes from this person seeing the Newsletter and CDs on their desk and instead of allocating time to read and listen to them they do other ‘things’ because if they do read them then they’ll have to act on the information given and that takes work.
Now, when the next edition of the Newsletter arrives or CD comes through they start to feel guilty about not having done anything with the previous issues.
The loser decides it will be easier to cancel so they stop receiving the materials which in turn means they don’t pile up so… ultimately they don’t feel guilty because nothing is piling up anymore.
At this point a person who REALLY wants to succeed would change their behaviour and adopt a winning attitude by setting time aside to go through the material and use & act on what they can at that point.
I don’t get anything from it
This is our 10th year of publishing the IMR and actually twelve years of selling online. Over the years we’ve helped tens of thousands of people start and grow their own online businesses. Some have used our help to make a few hundred pounds a month extra where others have gone on to earn six figures and even a couple of seven figure earners.
One of the hardest things for us is pulling together the information in the Newsletter so everyone can find something that benefits them. I fully understand that everything in the Newsletter can’t benefit everyone, every time.
However, the Newsletter coupled with the Membership site provides a WEALTH of knowledge, help, support and tutorials for people at ANY stage in their business. Plus the Discussion Forum provides a platform for anyone (new or experienced) to ask any questions they may have.
When someone tells me that they couldn’t get anything from being a member I know it’s one of two things.
1) They’re telling me that they couldn’t be bothered to scan through the Newsletter to pick out what’s relevant to them and act on it because that takes a commitment to do.
2) In EVERY case of someone using this excuse I can guarantee they have NEVER posted or asked a question on the Discussion Forum. And what’s even more sad and frustrating is that in many cases they haven’t even logged into the Membership Site itself!
The Internet Marketing Review / Two Neils are not for me
Now this one excuse I actually don’t mind hearing because I know we’re not for everbody. In fact we pride ourselves on not being for everyone.
I actually firmly believe that a lot of people who ‘think’ they want an online business actually don’t deserve to be members of the Internet Marketing Review.
We are certainly not for people who:
- Want push button riches
- Want a magic pill solution to business and profits
- Don’t want to put the work in that is required to succeed. In fact I KNOW we scare a number of people off by talking about that 4 letter word…work
- Want something for nothing
- Are excuse riddled! People who have an excuse for what seems like every situation under the sun. I’m a big believer in personal responsibility and “if it’s to be then it’s up to me” and no one else.
We are for people ‘Just Like You’ who understand the Power of Positive Association and of being in the Right Place (the Internet Marketing Review). We’re for people like you who understand the Power of the Pay Off… the power of work now and get paid over and over for years to come.
“I Salute and Toast To Your Continued & Future Success“
Since we’re just past New Year and talking of toasts; one of the best toasts I ever came across was written by a gentleman named Bob Culp for the people who hang out with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion on his movie or poker nights….
“Be of good cheer for they are out there and We are in here”
This toast applies to us as the Internet Marketing Review is not just about a Membership Site, Newsletter, CDs and Events…
…It is THE PLACE for people just like us…entrepreneurs, like minded people, business builders who gather to build businesses, ask questions, think and offer help, support and advice to our growing community.
The Internet Marketing Review is a unique place, a place Neil and I are proud to be part of and proud of all of our members no matter where they are in their business development and experience.
There are ordinary people ‘out there’ who will reach December 2010 and wonder where the year went and why they still haven’t got an internet business off the ground…
…then there are the extraordinary people, members of the Internet Marketing Review who will use all of the resources available to them to launch grow and profit from their online endeavours right throughout 2010 and beyond.
I look forward to working with you and all of our members this year.
And remember…
“Be of good cheer for they are out there and We are in here”
Best wishes
Neil
PS Not yet a member of the Internet Marketing Review? You can try us out for two
months for free AND claim all of the current new member bonuses. Visit this web
page for more information
www.internetmarketingreview.com/2months
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Comments
I whole heartedly agree with mostly everything you’ve said there.
However, it’s not all black and white. I do struggle with time and money, i run a small gardening business, which is obviously suffering at the moment in this snow, to make matters worse my wife has been seriously ill these last four months (2 major ops), consequently i have had to take a lot of time off, to help look after our children and run her to hospital appointments, so i have lost a lot of money. Unfortunately now we are struggling to feed ourselves and pay the bills.
The upshod of this is that i just can’t justify joining a paid membership site, even though i know your material is of the highest quality. My greatest problem with all of this is after spending time on my website, writing content tweaking the site etc is, i then don’t have time to actually market it. If i had the money i would outsource this, hell if i had the money i would give up my gardening business altogether and work my online business, vicious circle, i guess.
So yes guys while you are absolutely right on most of it, it’s not all black and white.
Still i’ll keep on plugging away, and maybe one day i’ll be able to join.
Kind regards, Paul Hoff. UK
Hi,
I agree with all you say and many many other sites such as yours who lay the same claims and promises.
It is not the word ‘Work’ that stops most of us joining it is the financial cost!
Many of these internet businesses promise all but never give the man in the street a break! We are asked to lay our money up first then see what we get whether it is an immediate post of CD’s and books showing us how to do it or a constant drip feed of money each month to get a little further info.
That is why we are all dubious and feel that we are only lining the pockets of the said business that is already established and when we try our return is extremely low in comparisom.
I as an honourable person have sent e-mails to people stating that I will pay an upfront initial fee then when I make the money suggested I then commit further payment to the business I have joined. After all as you people say ‘WE can’t fail to make money’. Therefore by doing this we are all winners. But guess what, the people that I have suggested this to either don’t reply or they say that I am not committed!
What a stupid answer! If I am making good money I will be totally committed!
So I too will keep on plugging away to find someone on the internet who is really prepared to help someone like me to get ahead with out paying a fortune to do so! Or being committed to a programme that goes on and on but earns very little!
Hi Neil
Your post is raising one of the biggest issues around and I’m sure if you crack this you’ll make lots of new millionaires all over the world.
I’ve bought some of your stuff over the last couple of years and it is very good and definitely leading the way alongside one or two others. That’s great.
The problem as I see it – and I’ve struggled myself with this – and I bet you had this in your old bank days… Training is a strange thing. When you go on a training course at work – you generally learn a lot, even though a lot of it is common sense. You go away back to work with all great intentions to implement what you’ve learned – then 3 weeks later you’ve not used it and almost forgotten you even took the training.
Whoever knows how to actually help people act on everything they learn and implement new ideas etc will change things in a big way.
The problem I had until recently with IM was trying ideas which ultimately I just wasn’t really interested in – so there was no passion or spark to keep going until an idea worked.
I’ve been guilty of it offline too. Since I left work about 5 years ago I got into property – but ultimately I didn’t really love what I was doing. I just saw it as a fairly quick and easy way of making money. I did ok with property and I should be fine in terms of not having to worry about my retirement – but if I’d have loved being involved with property I would probably be a multi-millionaire by now, which I’m not!
After trying loads of ideas online – some silly, I just decided to do something which I really enjoy, something I know I’m pretty good at doing and something which will help lots of other people get on.
The fact I really like what I’m doing now means I’ve put more effort into it and kept pushing it until I’ve made it convert well and most importantly made it profitable.
After all this waffle, what I’m trying to say is that I think it is really important to encourage people to set up an IM business which they are really passionate about as this will always show through in everything they do to promote it.
One of the reasons you and Neil do so well is you are both very passionate about what you do. Your videos aren’t half hearted – they are full on, inspirational and motivating.
One other thing, is that maybe we can always make things simpler than what we do. I think a lot of people find the Internet a really difficult concept to grasp – even down to just using Google Search.
I sometimes get exasperated with my Mum (a retired Teacher and Educational Specialist) but she just struggles like mad with doing simple stuff online. It’s just made me realise that it’s easy for me and others who have been online for a few years and have studied a bit on Internet Marketing, but most people just find it difficult.
Even my friends don’t really believe that you can run a business online – I’m sure they think I’m dealing drugs or something – they keep asking me when am I going to prison?!
I’m going to stop waffling now – but the other main problem is FOCUS!
I’ll leave it there!
Happy New Year Neil and Neil!
Best wishes,
Dave
Skelmersdale UK
I so agree with what Paul said
I find it very time-consuming to do all the web-site tweaking etc (although I’m getting better and quicker). I tried out-sourcing, but somehow it was never quite what I wanted, so I thought it better to learn to do it myself.
My reason for leaving was that I’ve been a victim of success in my off-line business which is currently taking up a lot of my time and in this current economic climate I’d be a fool to turn away work that’s paying the bills in favour of the Internet Marketing, which is generating a small amount of revenue, but not yet properly earning its keep.
I learned a huge amount from my membership and am still putting it into practice. Things ARE starting to happen, but it is very slow. (Just before Christmas I made my first sale of that PLR package I setup with you, Neil!)
I haven’t given up by any means I am still plodding away with IM into the wee-small hours of most nights, but the day-job has to come first right now.
Kind regards, and thanks to all who helped me.
Joy, UK
These ‘people’ are your clients, and you’re losing them.
They lack confidence in their business & marketing skills, so they come to you for guidance.
They have made the first bold step by making a financial commitment, and it’s up to you to make them feel they’re getting their money’s worth.
You’re failing to do this & worse still, failing to realise it.
If I was in your position I would be taking a good hard look at what I’m doing wrong.
My initial hunch would be it was something to do with my attitude towards ‘these people’.
Hope you’re not easily offended either.
Paul – Thanks for your feedback and good luck with your business. I look forward to hearing from you telling me you’ve given up your gardening business!
Brendan – I understand your point and in the past I have done this several times with people who said that I should help them and when they do it they will pay me the full amount. In each case they all gave an excuse why they didn’t do the work or couldn’t continue…NOT what I helped them with didn’t work. This experience led me to stop working this way with people.
Now, I do know that I will unfortunately miss people (like yourself) who may go on, use the info and create a business, but past experience made this decision for me.
Dave – Brilliant stuff and congrats on your success!
I agree about working on something you are passionate about is the best. I ALWAYS tell people to at least choose a topic that they have a good interest in EVEN if they currently know nothing about. This passion/interest is what will carry you forward past the hurdles which WILL come up
This business is also about consistency doing something, even a little, everyday…that way you continue to learn and develop your skills. When you learn something new and don’t use it you will, as you say, lose what you learned.
I wish you continued success!
Hi Joy – It’s always great to hear from you as we go way back to the days of writing for Money Master
Great news on the sale and here’s to many more. AND I encourage people to follow what’s working for them as you did with your offline success….keep it up.
I look forward to welcoming you back soon!
Hi Graham -Thank you for posting your thoughts and I respect your comments even if I don’t agree with them of course.
After selling online for 12 years and helping tens of thousands of people via the Internet Marketing Review (both paid members and non members) I have seen and experienced a whole range of human behaviour.
The people who leave and who I describe in the post are small number compared to the members and people we help…the old saying is very true..
“you can’t please everybody”
And I know that.
Neil and I work our backsides off for those people who want the help and will continue to do so for many more years to come.
I urge anyone wanting to create an online business to get help where they can…from us or others if they don’t relate to us…BUT…
And it’s a BIG but….
When they ask for help, invest in a product or get information ….they USE IT!
You get success by doing, not reading, meditating or hoping.
Motion beats meditation every time.
I wish everyone success in what they do!
Hi Neil me again,
I like Brendan have also tried that approach, ‘If you’re that confident of your product, prove it by helping me….’ sort of approach, and I completely understand you may have had problems in the past but I felt that if I made anywhere near the money many of these products claim, I would happily sign a contract paying away 50% of my profits for a year or more, a bit like the business angels on Dragons Den, but predictably I’ve had the same response as Brendan.
Oh well, keep at it i suppose, and i’m sorry Graham but i don’t agree with you either, just my twopenneth.
Paul
Hi Paul
I don’t mind you asking at all… as the old saying goes…”if you don’t ask”
I’ll expand a little more on my thinking about this.
Neil and I are in a favourable position that having been in this business for 12 years and helping people for 10 years we now have many people who have used our products to start and grow their own businesses.
Last year we opened up our high end coaching program and filled it completely… this obviously fills up a large proportion of our time. So, taking a pure business position, there is no economical/financial gain to taking on a non paying client with our current commitments.
However, let me give you an example where I am working with someone who is not paying us.
I am working with one member of ours to help them set up their info business (websites, sales process, marketing plan, business plan, etc) in return they are helping us develop a part of our business where they have far more experience.
This is an ideal business relationship for us as we both gain from it.
So… thinking about your situation (and anyone else reading this), when you approach someone with a proposition find out how you can help them, it isn’t all about the money.
Do you have any experience that can help them?
Can you do something to help them in their business (Research, affiliate contacting, etc)?
Do you know someone else who could help them (the old ’6 degrees of separation)?
By thinking differently, than other people who may be approaching the same people as you, you’ll stand out from all the others.
Hope that helps
Neil
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