MindPerk Blog

Much of our frustration in life stems from the following reality: there are things we THINK we CAN control, that we cannot. Let’s face it, we are not in control of much of our lives. Our bodies are subject to fatigue and disease. Our ability to perform is limited by the clock and calendar. We cannot control our children or our spouse, or even our employees. We have no control over the weather, or the economy, or the price of gas. We are dependent on so many outside forces to make our lives work. Think about it. What would we do without electricity and grocery stores and computers?

The other side of the story is equally important: there are things we THINK we CAN'T control, but we can. These include our attitude and our actions. Too often, we allow the weather, other people or circumstances—things over which we have no control—to affect our attitude or determine our actions. Here is an area where you can take control. Decide today to choose your attitude and plan your actions. 

Success Tip: Stop wasting time and energy worrying about things over which you have no control. Instead, focus your positive energy on choosing your attitude and your actions.

Recently I received an email from a college student asking for advice on starting an online business. She said, "one of my greatest dreams is to open up a business similar to yours, where I can provide people with the same information that has changed my life. The reason I am emailing you is because I was wondering if you could provide me with a few tips."

Here are my top 5 keys to starting an online business:

1. Pick a narrow, targeted focus that you are passionate about.  You don’t have the money to start out as a Wal-Mart or an Amazon, that carries everything from avocados to zoom lenses. Even in the area of self improvement, you would be wise to pick one specific topic, whether it is time management or communication skills or meditation or sales. To use another example, if you are interested in art, you need to narrow it down further. Perhaps impressionistic painting, or ceramics, or nature photography. The more narrow your focus, the more successful your website will be. Pick a subject that you are interested in, one where you have the most expertise and knowledge, one that you are passionate about. Stay focused on this one area—and make it successful. Then, once you have built a thriving business in your target area, you can begin to expand and grow into other areas if you like. Most successful businesses stay with their core focus and expand within that area, rather than watering down their effectiveness by going in too many directions at once.
2. Never borrow money to start an online business.  Start small.  Use word of mouth at first.  Promote your business with friends, relatives and acquaintances.  Avoid expensive advertising or website designers.  I recommend that you learn to design your own website.  This way you are not at the mercy of web designers that charge $50-$200/hour.  When Benjamin Franklin said, “a penny saved is a penny earned,” he was only half right.  A penny saved is actually better than a penny earned, because you don’t have to pay taxes on it.  Be smart, go slow, never borrow, expand only as you grow.
3. Serve your customers.  Most people know that to survive today, a business must listen to their customers and give exceptional customer service.  Strangely, many of those same people think that an online business is somehow different; that you can just put your feet up and money will come rolling in with little effort or action on your part.  This idea is the foundation of most failed online businesses.  The truth is that an online business is no different than any other business.  You have to come to work every day, hire employees, warehouse inventory, answer the phone, be on time, and bend over backwards to satisfy your customers and build their trust.  I believe that, in many ways, an online company is even more demanding than a brick-and-mortar business because you have to be personally disciplined and provide outstanding service if you are to establish a place in the global economy that is the internet.
4. Establish business hours and be there.  All successful businesses have fixed business hours when you can reach them for assistance or make a purchase.  We are all familiar with those annoying automated phone trees.  “Press one to hear another menu, which leads to another menu, which ends in a voice mail of someone who is not available to take your call.”  This may work for large established companies (and not very well, I might add) but you cannot afford to miss these calls.  You have to be there to answer the phone, respond to emails immediately, and make the customer feel that they are the most important thing in your day.
5. Take advantage of affiliate programs.  An affiliate program is an opportunity for you to start big with a large, established selection of products, without having to invest huge amounts of money to inventory and warehousing products or having to negotiate reselling contract with individual author or manufacturers.  Many established companies have a affiliate programs where you link to their catalog or online store using an affiliate link.  Whether you want to sell toys or books or clothing or gardening supplies, there is usually a great affiliate program available. You can use an affiliate program to supplement your own products, or as your entire web store.  With an affiliate account, you use unique tracking codes to link from your website to the page on another website where a particular product or author is located.  The system tracks all visitors that originate from your website and pays you a commission on sales from those people.  Good affiliate programs continue to track sales from customers that you have referred, even when they come back and purchase months or even years later.  Our MindPerk affiliate program, for example, tracks your customers for up to 50 years, so you can continue to earn residual commissions for many years. Affiliate programs eliminate much of the work of having a website. They take care of stocking and shipping products, collecting payment, and customer service issues.  However, you must still have great content on your website to attract visitors in the first place. Start by writing articles and tutorials about the topics that you have expertise in.   Then, place affiliate links to appropriate products next to your content.  Spread the word through family and friends.  The more great content you have, the more people will visit your site and then purchase products through your affiliate links.    

Starting an online business is hard work, but it can be very satisfying and worthwhile.  You are not limited by geography—you can share your message with like-minded people all over the world. The most important thing is to make your plan, then get started.  Best wishes on your exciting new online adventure.  

The story is told about three frogs sitting on a lily pad. Two decided to jump off. How many were left?

The answer is three! You see, the two frogs simply decided to jump, they didn't actually do it.

Aren't we sometimes the same? Do we think about making changes, talk about it, dream about it -- but never actually do it?

I'll bet you know of something right now that, if you began doing it regularly, would make a huge difference in your life. I challenge you to begin now and start. Just do it. As David Schwartz succinctly put it: "The only way to start -- is to start!"

"Thank you."
"Great job!"
"Where did you learn to do that so well?"
"You're #1 this week."
"I really appreciate the extra effort you put into that."
"High fives!!"

Think how you feel when someone makes one of these comments to you. Now think about your team members. Management surveys show that the most effective team leaders use frequent and honest appreciation. Let's face it, we all have the tendency to point out mistakes and areas that need work. That's how we get better. But, don't forget to sprinkle it with sincere appreciation for the good we see. It will make a huge difference in the atmosphere of our workplace.

We can learn an important lesson from boat racers. A professional racer came to a local boat club race. He practiced running at top speed from the starting point along the course. All the other racers were circling together at half speed near the starting point. As the race was about to start, the racers all turned toward the starting point and were beginning to accelerate as the starting gun went off. All the boats were at the starting line together, but the professional racer was already at top speed and instantly passed the others. By the first turn, he was clearly ahead and well on his way to winning the race.

You too need to be at top speed when you hit the starting line. Make it a practice to be a few minutes early to every appointment so you can get ready, physically and mentally, to hit the ground running. Those who race in at the last minute, often spend the first few minutes of the presentation gathering their thoughts and their materials.

Success Tip: Arrive a few minutes early for every appointment to give yourself time to get ready.

Have you ever wondered why you are drawn to certain people and love to be around them, or why some people seem to attract confidence, success, and friendships with a variety of people? If you don’t feel like your people skills are to the level you would like, (don’t worry, theses skills can be learned) you should read Dale Carnegie's classic How to Win Friends and Influence People.

When I was in my early 20’s, I was looking for a good book to read one day and stumbled across my husband’s copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People. I was drawn to Dale Carnegie's direct personal approach and practical advice. It quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. Carnegie gives you straight forward techniques for relating to all types of people, ways to make people like you, concrete ideas to win people to your way of thinking, and tips on being an effective leader. The book is entertaining, insightful and the ideas are as applicable today as they were when Dale Carnegie first wrote the book over 70 years ago. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone dealing with the public from politicians to students, plumbers to retail clerks. 

How to Win Friends and Influence People revealed many simple things that I could do to improve my interpersonal skills. I've often wished I had known about this book when I was in High School, it would have helped get through those insecure years with more flair and friendships. If you have never read How to Win Friends and Influence People. I highly recommend you get a copy. If you read it years ago but haven’t reviewed it for a while, dust of your copy and read it again. It's also available in an audio version (CD or instant download) so that you can listen to it while driving, exercising, or on the go. 

One of the great skills of successful people is their ability to concentrate. Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters." He was right. To be a great achiever in any endeavor, one must be absorbed by it, and devoted to it. He does best who eats, drinks, sleeps and lives his goal until it gets into his mind, heart and blood stream. Then it will overflow into his eyes, face, handshake, actions -- and wallet.

Rays of sunshine gently warm the earth. But concentrated through a magnifying glass, they can start a forest fire. Rain, spread over an entire city has little effect, but concentrate the rain in one place, and you have a powerful torrent, able to move anything in its path. Likewise, a person who becomes distracted by sidelines, errands, and trivial pursuits is of little effect compared to the one who learns to focus his efforts and actions.

"A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways," wrote the poet. When a person "sees double," he gets into trouble, like the prize fighter who, after a bad licking, said, "Where I made my mistake was that I didn't knock him out in the first round when he was alone."

Success Tip: Supercharge your success with the power of a single purpose. Don't let distractions rob you of your concentration.

As we celebrate American independence and rejoice in the freedoms that we enjoy in many countries, we are reminded again that each of us as individuals is free to select our path, choose our own attitude, and to work until we succeed. I am reminded of the story about the Oyster and the Eagle.

When God made the oyster, He guaranteed him absolute economic and social security. He built the oyster a house, a shell to protect him from his enemies. When hungry, the oyster simply opens up his shell, and food rushes in.

But, when God made the eagle, He said, "The blue sky is the limit. Go build your own house." And the eagle went out and built his house on the highest mountain crag, where storms threaten him every day. For food, he flies through miles of rain and snow and wind. This majestic bird symbolizes those individuals who are willing to stand out, to risk, to achieve, who crave the freedom to stand or fall on their own accomplishments.

The Eagle, not the Oyster, is the emblem of America and the symbol of freedom the world over. 

Each of us has the freedom to grab hold of opportunities and make a unique masterpiece of our lives. Like the Eagle, we are not content to live lives of mediocrity, we prefer to spend our existence striving for excellence and achieving our dreams.

Fear is the greatest enemy of any professional. Fear of looking silly prevents many from giving enthusiastic effort. Fear of rejection causes an otherwise excellent sales person to dread cold calling. In fact, statistics show that over half of the sales presentations in America end with no attempt to close whatsoever. Why? Fear of failure. Fear, fear, fear. It can leave us paralyzed and ineffective.

What is the cure for fear? ACTION! If you are afraid of rejection, make more cold calls. If you fear ridicule, make your actions audacious and dynamic. If you worry about failure, sharpen your skills and then use them.

Theodore Roosevelt put it this way:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered with failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

The truth is, most of the things we worry about never come to pass. The word FEAR could accurately be made into an acronym which stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. So why worry? Take decisive action to cure worry and overcome fear.

If you work in a group of two or more people, chances are you are considered by the management as a "team." The question is: do you consider yourself a team member? Are you really acting as a team? Or, do you, at times, think of the other people in your company as competition? After all, if one of them gets the contract, you might not. It's easy to see how some people adopt a defeating attitude and begin to sabotage their teammate's work, and, as a result, sabotage their own success as well.

Remember the oft-told example of two horses pulling a load. Two horses, pulling in unison, can pull more than three times the amount that each horse can pull separately. It's called the synergistic effect, and you can make it work for you and your company.

Vince Lobardi once said, "Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." Look for ways that you can contribute to the group efforts of your entire staff. Look for way that you can work together. Look for ways to help others in your company--above and beyond what you are expected to do. Don't be afraid to share ideas and techniques that work. Pretty soon, the effectiveness of the entire group will grow, boosting your personal success and profits along with those of your team and your company.

Be a team player! If you want to improve your own chances for success, look for ways to help fellow workers and bolster your entire team.