But eventually, when everything you do online becomes tightly regulated and subject to the overbearing authority of every Tom, Dick or Harry that can weedle a position of authority, you’ll be forced to take notice. But by then it will be too late.

As ever, when these bureaucratic goose-steppers decide on a course of action it is undertaken without consultation and in the form of a demand. My answer is the same as always. Two words and shouted like I mean it. One day, if we ever collectively develop a set, it may dawn on the pen-pushers that they need us a lot more then we need them.

Here’s the love letter in question:

Hello D,

In order to serve our customers with the highest quality control,
Ymultimedia now requires that you
submit a form of photo identification (Drivers License, Passport,
Government ID.. etc.) in order to
promote Ymultimedia offers and receive commissions earned.

Moving forward, you will not receive payment until we have an ID on file
for your account.

Additionally, if an ID is not received by EOD March 31, 2010, your account
will be suspended until
one has been received and verified.

Please send via email to this email address (id@ymultimedia.com). Photo
identification names must
match what is stated in your account.

Please contact you AM if you have any questions or concerns.

Best regards,
Ymultimedia

Numbers five and six are, “Everyone else says I’m dreaming!”, and “Nobody will take me seriously!”

A month into my transit from the world of “real” work to online marketing (which I class as “rewarding” work even though I haven’t seen any profits yet) it’s starting to seem ridiculous that I ever held any of the concerns I’ve been discussing.

Now that I’m taking action I just don’t have the time to be worried. And because I’m putting the effort in on a daily basis I’m becoming more determined not to waste the hours (and money) I’ve invested by slacking off or giving up.

As I’ve revealed, I also have to hold down a day job. This is rapidly becoming a boring impediment to my progress. The thing I feared losing is now something I can’t wait to be rid of – so I can get on with doing the things I initially feared.

However, for family and friends that aren’t involved in the everyday effort and haven’t been exposed to the details of Internet marketing it’s understandable when they are a little sceptical of my intentions.

If we are unlucky, we get conditioned from an early age to believe a major goal in life is to get a “good” job. This is a definition of success for many people, probably most people. I was no different. It’s not that my parents and teachers were intentionally giving me bad advice, it’s just they weren’t aware of the alternatives that now exist because of modern technology.

It takes a lot to shake that mindset and I’m pretty sure only a healthy bank balance will convince the people close to me that earning an income online is viable. I’m not saying I suffer ridicule and abuse, but questions such as, “Are you sure you know what you are doing?”, are common enough.

These types of queries are valid when coming from people whose futures are tied up with my own. They are legitimate if I am spending a ton of money in the process of building an unconventional business. I wonder how many marketers hid their bank statements during the early days?

The good news is I’ve managed to pick up the basics without suffering any major financial loss. And I’m putting the effort in, so my best course is to forget about changing minds with words but rather to press on and generate results.

As for people not taking me seriously, either online or off, I haven’t had that problem with anything else I’ve done so provided I retain my character and nature and don’t try to become some artificial, hyped-up sales robot I’ll be fine.

Honesty is the virtue and it will be my primary weapon in this business. Coupled with providing value in everything I sell. After that, if people still have a problem, well – you can’t please all of the people all of the time, can you?

Number four is, “I don’t like selling, it just feels wrong!”

The answer that springs to mind might be, what am I doing messing with Internet marketing if I don’t like selling? I clarified this issue, to some degree, in a previous posting – I don’t know how to sell.

I suggested it’s what I sell that is going to have a great bearing on how I view the whole sales process. If I’m selling rubbish and I know the customer is going to end up disappointed or feel cheated then no wonder I am uneasy about the whole business.

On the other hand, if I choose a product I can genuinely endorse because I have experience with it and it has been of use to me personally then why should I have concerns if it helps other people too? I should be pleased with such an outcome.

And if the buyer is actively typing a search into to Google, literally asking to buy this product, why should I feel in any way bad about selling it to him or her given I know it provides value?

It makes no sense to have negative feelings about selling if I have the right intentions from the outset. That’s why you’ll never see me selling, “Lose 100lbs in one week by flexing your big toe!”, style weight-loss products. That sort of stuff is simply targeting desperate people for a quick buck. That’s what would really make me hate selling.

On a related note, I’ve applied and received refunds for three products this week. One product was sheer dross, the other two were fine but weren’t going to work out for me in the short term. I have to say that all three vendors handled the refund process without a fuss. That’s something else I’ll be doing, making sure customers have an easy route to getting their money back if anything I sell them turns out to be not quite right for them.

I’m not sure any more why I was worried about selling, I’m actually going to enjoy it.

Number three on my list is, “I don’t have enough time!”

Well this one is easy because it’s true. I can’t afford to spend one minute more than is absolutely necessary in a job that pays me enough to get by (and I’m one of the lucky ones) yet makes my boss rich to the extent he doesn’t know what to do with all the money.

It’s not just about the money either. It’s not even about a fair days pay for a fair days work, that theory has long since expired with modern trends such as downsizing and outsourcing. The ideals we learned at school are past the sell-by date.

A fraction of the planet owns most of the wealth and they don’t achieve this by sticking their nose to the wheel like the common man. Love them or loathe them they play smart and, fair or not, they tend to win.

I have no designs on world domination or even a private jet or luxury yacht – not my scene at all. Being in control of my life and comfortable in the process will be fine. But who should I be taking my lessons from to get there? The working man or the wealthy man?

A little of both, maybe. I’m sure there’s a space in between that will suit me well.

Okay, so I have to do the day job routine for the time being. And because I’m taking their money it falls on me to do that job properly, so a certain amount of my time is wasted spoken for.

That makes every other moment of every single day highly valuable.

So. No more aimlessly surfing the web. No more chatting in forums unless it is directly related to my business. No more searching TV channels for something to watch. No more following link after link from marketing emails or watching pitch videos.

I don’t enjoy these things anyway because I always have a nagging thought in the back of my mind, “Isn’t there something better you could be doing right now?”

Footie on TV is still on the menu though – let’s keep it real!

Excuse number 3 doesn’t hold water when I am honest about the amount of time I have wasted. I do have enough time to make this business work, provided I’m disciplined enough not to blow that time.

Besides, what’s the alternative? 40 more years working for the man and then coughing up the bit I’ve managed to save so I can pay for a retirement home?

Ain’t gonna happen!

I’m 50% through my first affiliate site. I’m taking action and squashing the excuses for inaction. Today I baulked at spending £50 on graphics for the new site. I’m sure I can find a cheaper alternative.

Here’s the second of my mental barriers to taking action, “I don’t know how to sell”.

It’s true, in the context of online marketing, I have very little experience. But to say I don’t know how to sell – is that true?

The answer is no because we are all salesman. We might not be selling eBooks or get rich quick schemes but we all know how to argue, to persuade, even to cajole. It’s part of everyday life.

Whenever there are competing suggestions or options how do you ensure it’s your preferred choice that wins out? You sell.

“Let’s go to the Crown an Anchor, the beer’s good and the music is great!”

“Yeah, I agree, but what about the Dog and Duck, the beer’s good there too but they have a live band playing tonight!”

“Works for me, let’s go!”

There’s your offer and your bonus, everybody is happy, everybody wins.

And I think that’s at the heart of my unease about the whole online selling process. I want to know that I’m making a good offer that provides real value in return for the money I want to earn.

It’s not that I can’t sell, I can because I do it every day in the natural course of events.

What I’m really worried about is my ability to produce or select a quality product that will be of value to the customer. I should have that concern. All the time. It’s right to be focused on providing value. Not the value I perceive but the value the customer will derive.

So it turns out what I imagined was an impediment is in reality an advantage. If I’m always checking and checking again that I’m providing real value then it can only help me.

As for the technical details of how to sell online, that can all be learned (in a few hours) and the experience gained from taking action allows for refinement further down the line.

I’ve been giving out recommendations for resources you can use to learn the basics without the hoopla. Use them as a short-cut if you want to avoid making the costly mistakes I’ve made.

Two down, six more objections to overcome. Then I have no excuses for not taking action.

Sometimes I say, “Yes I can do this.” Other times it’s, “Get real – get a real job!”

Actually I do have a job, which is precisely why I’m trying to get into Internet marketing. I work my tail off in my “real” job and have been for years. Guess what, no matter how much I earn I end up with just about enough to cover the bills and maybe save enough for one holiday a year. It’s been the same pattern, year after year.

In fact, maybe my lifestyle has declined recently as my pay has increased. I don’t know for sure, but it feels like I could do a lot more on a lot less a few years back. Or had more free time on my hands at least.

Anyway, I don’t see any future in working to make somebody else rich. Clear as day, there’s no future in that for me.

So what else can I do? Write a best-selling novel? Not my scene at all. Start a bricks and mortar business? No money and no desire to do that anyway.

The obvious answer is to leverage the amazing power and reach of the Internet to provide a valuable service to enough people so I can earn enough to quit my job. And then repeat the process so I can earn enough to live comfortably on my own terms.

Is this feasible? Certainly yes because other people (many other people) are doing it right now.

Is it feasible for me? Now there’s the question. Sometimes it seems perfectly possible, other times it’s pie in the sky.

So here’s what I did to answer this question once and for all. I wrote down a list of all the reasons why I worry I can’t succeed in this business.

Here it is:

1. Don’t know what to sell,
2. Don’t know how to sell,
3. Don’t have enough time,
4. I don’t like selling, it just feels wrong,
5. Everyone else says I’m dreaming,
6. Nobody will take me seriously,
7. It’s too risky, I need a job and income I can rely on,
8. It’s too complicated, I’ll never learn all I need to know to be successful,

That’s a pretty depressing list and if any of the items were true then I’d give up right now. But after I looked at the list and resolved to make an honest answer to each point I decided that negative thoughts about why you CAN’T succeed have no value whatsoever and need to be dispensed with at an early stage.

I’m going to write a post on each of the answers to each of these points to show you how I finally decided Internet marketing is the BEST and smartest option for me and why I no longer hold any doubts that (eventually) I’ll succeed.

Brilliant marketing tactic or heartfelt rant? I can’t tell for sure but a lot of what he says resonates with me. Hell, I just bought a system called the “Magic Bullet”, more on that later.

Chris is right. There’s no guru anywhere that’s going to get on a plane, knock on your door and come into the house and do this for you. Eventually, everyone has to work if they want the rewards. So I’m taking my ass-whipping from Chris in the proper spirit and I’m getting down to solid work.

I say this because one thing I noticed about today was that having signed up for two major programs yesterday my impetus has taken a hit. I’ve spent so much time checking out intro videos and way cool tools that I’ve forgotten I’m not actually making any money online right now. I’ve sure spent a lot though.

At the moment I’m a customer, not an Internet Marketer. And I’m burning out on information overload. These are the classic early mistakes, right? And it’s strange because I signed up for tools that were going to do the whole job for me and yet I’ve blown a day dealing with log-ins and figuring out interfaces and watching videos when I could have been improving my woeful sales funnel or building a few back links. Who’s this hurting most?

Tomorrow (in fact today, because it’s already gone midnight) I’m back in the saddle and pushing on. I’ll have a freebie product, proper sales page, auto-responder sequence and a syndicated campaign to drive traffic by the end of this week or my name’s not, “The Guy Who Just Got Kicked in the Ar*e by Chris Rempel”.

Way to go Chris, much appreciated!

216 followers on Twitter now (see previous post No Time to Waste). That’s in just over 2 days! Now I don’t for a second imagine just by having a heap of followers on Twitter I can relax and wait for the money to roll in. No, I’m using Twitter as one piece of a traffic generation method that I’m stitching together.

I have to say though, a lot of the people I’ve started to follow in return have plenty to say and there are a few gems hidden in there. I think I like Twitter, though I’m determined not to spend non-profitable hours on it.

I’ll talk about the other traffic generation methods and how they all fit together next week.

Generating traffic is all that I’m focusing on because I figure without traffic and without something useful to present when the traffic arrives I don’t stand much of a chance in terms of making money online.

I’ve decided to take weekends off and work like a carthorse Monday to Friday. I have a regular day job to take care of, fortunately I work from home and that’s a big, big benefit. The 9 to 5 will be working for the man and the remaining hours in each day I’ll work for myself (and Gordon Brown of course, mustn’t forget his bung!).

In my spare time today I was thinking about my Vision Statement. All the gurus I’ve listened to demand I have one. They say it doesn’t need to be complicated but it does need to be ambitious. Here goes:

I will earn enough online by providing top quality information products and services so I can give up my day job once and for all, and help other people do the same.

Isn’t the whole regular work scene humiliating, when you stop to consider it? Arrive when they tell you, leave when they tell you, eat when they tell you, mind your manners, be judged and rated and ranked and get thrown out the door when some bean-counter thinks there’s value in kicking you in the butt as thanks for all those years.

I just don’t want to do that any more, no matter how good the pay is. It’s degrading and I’m better than that and I deserve a more useful and fulfilled life. Provided I put the effort in to achieve it.

Rush say it better than I can. You may or may not like their style, but you have to admit – they’ve got a point. Have a great weekend.