- Winicki says...

I have to say thank you to all the replies and well wishes sent in last month.  I had a fabulous birthday – very low key, spent with family and friends... just perfect. 

I hope you all had a good Mother’s day and are now looking forward to Father’s day.   Next week, we will attempt some Father's day crafts and even some baking if mom's feeling ambitious! 

This issue is all about confidence, niches and ideas and we even have some special advice from a business friend of mind.  I hope you enjoy it and as always please send in your feedback and let me know what's on your mind :-)

Confidence Woes - Getting Rid of the Inner Critic

This month, I want to touch on confidence.  Several of the emails I received during May had to do with feeling a lack of confidence in business.  I know this feeling and am sure we all have experienced it at some point or other… and it’s okay because a little uneasiness can keep you on your toes.  The problem is when that lack of confidence downright affects your day to day and the choices you make.  

If you’re feeling the niggling effects of low confidence or perhaps want to start a new venture but feel your confidence is holding you back, here are a few things to keep in mind… 

One – Live the life you’ve dreamed up for yourself.  Don’t let anything stand in the way of your dreams and push forwards if you really feel you’re doing the right thing.  

Sure, some people will criticize you or even laugh at you… but will it really matter in the long term?  The truth is everyone will always have something to say about something.  Don’t worry about what people say and simply do what you want to do. 

Once you stop worrying about other people think and simply start doing, you’ll feel amazing and wonder what all the fuss was about.  

Two – You are your worst critic.  It’s true.  A lot of the times we think that people will poke fun at us or think we’re crazy for trying something new, but the reality is that most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to really care or even notice what you’re doing.  In fact, we are often our own worst critics.  

Subconsciously, we can sabotage our best efforts day in and day out.  By saying things like -- “I’ll never make that much money”  “I can never do that”  “That’s just not for me”  -- we are reinforcing negative messages in our minds that we are not able, not worthy, not capable, not this, not that, and so on… ;

You create your reality, it’s that simple.  By simply changing your thought and speech pattern, even if consciously to start, you will eventually create a more confident, positive you.  

Three – Take action.  Dreaming and positive thinking is great, but without action you won’t get anywhere.  Once you tell yourself you will do it, then set out a plan for how you’re going to achieve your goals.  

Breaking down your big goals into doable steps really helps.  If you get too hung up in the big picture, you’ll feel paralyzed and never take action.  ;

When I started my first business, I jumped in without thinking.  I’m glad I did that, because had I sat down and thought about all the “little things” that needed to be resolved I probably would not have gone through with my business.   

Anything and everything can be learned as you go along.  And if you can’t learn or do something yourself you’ll find someone to help you. 

Worry about the big picture first which is… ensuring that there’s a demand for your business, the monetization model works, etc. but ignore the details such as registering your business, accounting, logos/brochures, setting up the office/address and all that jazz… because the reality is none of that is important until you know you can make money with your new business.  

So stop worrying and start taking action.  Often times, it’s just a matter of getting started.  Once you do, everything falls into place and you’ll realize that it really wasn’t that difficult. 

Your mind is a powerful tool and can be your best friend or your worst enemy… take small strides everyday to befriend yourself and listen to your needs and wants – get to know you better – and low confidence will be a thing of the past in no time.

Mad Business Disease - Do you have it?

There’s an epidemic of mad business disease going around.  It starts like this… ;

Phase one – Subject A decides to start a new business.  This business will be the best thing since sliced bread.  It’s pure genius. EVERYONE will want what this business will offer and there is nothing, nothing at all like this out there. 

Phase two – Subject A just knows this business is going to work out really well and sets out to build a website with all the bells and whistles.  He even goes out and gets a brand new computer with all the works – after all he’ll soon be rolling in money.   He worries about things like decorating the perfect office space, complete with ergonomic furniture and pictures with little quotes on them.  

Phase three – Subject A is still not completely happy with the brochures, business cards, company logo or website design.  So he spends more time, effort and money getting these things “just right” because after all this will be his image and it’s very important he get it just right from the beginning.  

Phase fourr – Launch day!  Subject A is very excited.  Finally, everything is just perfect.  Months of perfecting his fabulous product, website and copy and now it’s all finally ready… he’s going to make soooo much money – Yes! 

Phase five – Subject A hasn’t made any money, not even enough to cover his time and expenses spent setting up the business.  The problem is no one is buying this perfect product – why not?  It’s pure genius.  How come hundreds of prospects aren’t knocking themselves over to get their hands on it? 

UUnfortunately, subject A has made the same mistake that many, many new (and some not so new) business owners make.   

The reality is that everyone thinks they have the “best idea” or “greatest product” and that everyone else will want a piece of it too.  It just doesn’t work like that.  Why do you think ideas can’t be copyrighted? – ideas are a dime a dozen and chances are if you’re thinking about something, someone else is too.  

And because you believe a product or idea is good doesn’t mean others will.  Hey, I love my ideas too – but many have flopped pretty badly so I know what I’m talking about!   

Do yourself a favor, before you start any new project or business test that it will work.  Do not spend a penny (unless spent testing) or much time or effort until you know your idea will work.  

If it’s a new product you’re selling online.  Get the product ready quickly, it does NOT have to be perfect.  Then test it on pay per click.  Look if you send traffic to the page and you’re not converting then obviously something is wrong right? 

If the product doesn’t sell, tweak a few things.  Start with the copy.  You can visit a copywriting forum and ask for help or call in favors from people that know what they’re doing.   

If even good copy isn’t converting, then look at your marketing.  Are you targeting the right people?  Is the product a good fit for your market?  Is it even necessary? 

I remember watching a program about inventions and this guy invented a toaster where one piece of bread comes out first and then you butter and eat that and then the second piece comes out a minute later – his thinking behind this invention was that you can eat two hot pieces of toast instead of letting one get cold. 

You see, there are just some inventions and products that are not necessary.  In the case above, this problem does not really need to be solved does it?  So one slice of toast is slightly colder than the first, who cares… do you?  I don’t.  This inventor would have figured this out too if he simply asked people (and not family and friends who are obviously biased) what they thought.  

Always test your business idea before investing any time, money or real effort in it.   As my friend Michael Winicki said to me… it’s better to fail fast, than fail slow.

Speaking of Michael Winicki, here’s a wonderful piece of advice from him that I know will benefit you greatly.  Mike is very much a “behind the scenes” guy.  Like many entrepreneurs making REAL money, he’s not out there trying to be the next big “guru” or making his living off teaching people to make money.

Instead Mike is in the trenches building and running many different successful direct sales businesses and over the years has built several million dollar hitters.

I knew from the start that Mike was a sharp guy so I listen and analyze every piece of advice he gives me very carefully.  If you’re smart you’ll do the same… 

This advice will be particularly helpful to anyone trying to find their niche or who is questioning their current business model.

(Note, this is an excerpt from a conversation I recently had with Mike about niches – we particularly discussed the “work at home and how to” market). 

Mike Winicki Says…

Here’s my view on niches:

#1 I have to be able to enjoy working within that niche. I enjoy business myself, I don’t care if it’s dietary supplements or raincoats. But not everyone is like that. If you don’t wake up in the morning with the thought, “OK, so how can I reach more people (in my niche), sell them more products or get them to buy more often?” then you shouldn’t be in that niche.

#2 I have to be able to identify potential customers within that niche using either conventional online or offline marketing methods.

#3 NO ONE & DONE NICHES! Either I’m operating within a niche where customers have to buy repeatedly or I have a product line that offers the potential for cross-sells and up-sells.

#4 There needs to be one area of the niche (even a small area) that I can become THE DOMINANT PLAYER (even if it’s a small sliver of that overall niche).

#5 Most of my competitors within the niche are “marketing challenged”, meaning they use image advertising or don’t understand how to use direct response marketing.

#6 It has to be a niche where I can somewhat easily add additional products, in order to help create more buying opportunities with my customer list.

OK … here are some questions for you…

1. Do you enjoy participating in your niche?

2. Can you become THE dominant player in your niche—at least at some level? Those that dominate any niche are the ones making the most money. Would you be happy as just an “also-ran”?

3. Is there a niche out there that you do think you can be the dominant player in? Even in a small segment of that niche? Your niche? Is this happening naturally or do you have to “force it?”

5. How can you add products without you spending a lot of time creating them yourself?

The “How to market” niche is hard to tough one for any person to dominate at this point—even the sub-niches within the market. Every marketer, both on-line expert and off-line expert who’s now an on-line expert :) is in this market, which certainly speaks to the profit potential within the niche but there’s making money and then there’s making really good money! And the really good money comes with dominating some portion of the niche.

In the 1990’s there were probably only 5 marketing experts…

Halbert
Nicholas
Kennedy
Abraham
Jay Conrad Levinson

How many are there now? More than you can swing a dead cat at.

And yes anyone can bring out a marketing package or two and spin some money—but to spin big time bucks you’ve got have a dominant position within that niche.

Do I think you can make a decent living just “mining” the top level of profit from several niches—all at the same time? Sure.

But to make a BIG INCOME I truly believe it has to be in one niche—at least for a while—until you know everything there is to know about that niche. Most on-line entrepreneurs know their niches superficially, but not enough to profit big-time from those niches.

Great advice, thank you Mike!  May I suggest you make your way over to Mike's website and grab his genius marketing book... go to Big Fat Noise for more.  Note: Although Mike's books is predominantly about direct marketing, it also includes general marketing information that can be applied to any business.

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