I’ve been thinking a lot recently about attitude, perspective and mindset. Not 100% sure where and when the thoughts started, but the message has really started to hit home. I’m also noticing things and people around me that are relevant to this topic, and that’s usually a sure sign that I’m on the right path.

For example, last night I was watching Australia’s Biggest Loser. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s yet another reality TV show, featuring a group of overweight, unfit people. The winner is the one who loses the most weight, but in reality many of the contestants win in other ways; they make genuine changes to their life, and in many cases life-saving changes.

This show is one of the few things I bother to watch on TV these days and it’s great to see the contestant changing; not only physically, but mentally as well. For many of them, and some of them have serious attitude issues, they hit a low, or there is some other event, and that triggers something inside them. It somehow starts the process of change inside them, and suddenly they are training harder, taking their dietary control seriously, and develop a focus that is so sharp you could cut yourself on it.

That is the moment needed for success with home-based business, and sadly not everyone will experience that “lightbulb moment” of revelation. Ultimately though, this is what it’s all about; online business success, weight loss, giving up smoking, it’s all about making significant changes in lifestyle changes. To make significant changes in one’s lifestyle requires significant changes in one’s perspective.

Now many people will scoff at this, they’re probably the ones who will soon be wondering how you got there, but you really do need to put the “old you” to one side, and move forward as the “new you”. The old ways of thinking, the old ways of acting; these are all the things that have resulted in your life today. To truly make a change in your life, you need to look at the thinking and behaviours that will mark you out as a successful person, and then introduce those new ways into your everyday life.

So how do we do this? The answer to that question lies within each individual. There is no magic formula, and there is no 5 second technique to magically switch to “success mode”. What needs to happen is that each person needs to dig deep, examine their lives in the harsh light of reality and, as my good buddy “C” puts it, work out their “why”. Once a person has worked out their “why”, what truly drives them, and what will truly inspire them, THAT will be the moment their internal “on” switch is flicked, and from that moment onwards they start to become a different, more successful, person.

Are you inspired, or are you scoffing?
Gaz

p.s Check out C’s /superb/ audio regarding mindset at http://www.trafficdynasty.com – Seriously, it’s good stuff.

Ann Sieg is pretty well known in the online marketing game, mainly thanks to her “Renegade Marketer” system and the eBook “7 Lies of Network Marketing”.

Well, according to an email I received recently, Ann is about to launch another groundbreaking report. This time touching on something that has become very trendy recently; “Attraction Marketing”.

I’m not privy to the actual content at this stage, but if previous reports are anything to go by, this one is going to blow away quite a few myths, misinformation and hype.

http://avallach.marketersmanifesto.com/

Well, this Saturday was Valentine’s Day, but was also the day I had picked as the official “go live” date for The Express Marketer. I have to be honest, it’s been a while since I was so directly involved in a software/service product development and launch, and it’s been great fun getting back to that.

Having evaluated a number of membership site management scripts, I eventually opted to develop my own “Back Office” using a web application framework/toolkit. While the membership site option would have made sense in a number of ways, the integration of the tools (ExpressURL, Landing Page, Swipe File and Site Bookmark) would have been more difficult, and would have had a “clunky” feel to them.

I eventually opted for a simple affiliate commission model anyway, so that is handled neatly by ClickBank, with a little bit of plumbing between them and the product fulfillment page.

While it is easy to go with an off-the-shelf solution like a membership site, especially if you want to run an affiliate system, it is always worth considering what your site/application is trying to deliver, and what other solutions may exist.

In my case I guess I am a little lucky in the fact that I’ve been writing database/application code for 20 years or more. Not everyone is in the position where they can code their own solution, but they ARE in the position were they can assess their options. A little bit of thought up-front really does pay off – for example, the Express Marketer back office has been well received by the users, primarily because it does exactly what it is intended to do, with no compromises to fit it into a pre-built solution.

Horses for courses, as the saying goes!

Gaz