Three Secrets to Business Success

The Internet has changed the way we do business. However, here’s something to keep in mind: The Internet is nothing but a medium (actually, a media toolbox). It is no more than that. It is not a panacea. Not an end-all-be-all for the entrepreneur seeking real, solid financial independence. There’s more than one piece in the puzzle. And to build a strong, lasting business, you have to use all of them to complete the picture.

There are three big pieces – three secrets that I believe a lot of people miss or learn to use only slowly, expensively, and late.

Secret #1: Diversity Equals Stability

The worst number in business is: one. One product, one service, one medium, one key employee, one key client.

If more than 10% to 20% of your income is dependent on any one thing, you’re a Titanic en route to an iceberg. The sharpest pencils in the box think: Multiple. Multiple sources of income. Multiple means of acquiring customers. Multi-media.

This is not always welcome advice, especially by people temporarily making lots of money easily and cheaply from one cheap medium (like the Internet). But I’ve been a marketer and entrepreneur for more than 30 years. I’ve seen lots of change, sudden upheaval, and many financial wipeouts because of relying on “one.” I’ve also seen people grow and sustain giant incomes by diversifying. That’s why I so strongly urge a broad understanding and application of direct marketing using multiple media. If you restrict either your education or your implementation to any one medium, you’re making a huge mistake.

Secret #2: Income vs. Equity

Most marketers think only in terms of Present Income, not in terms of locked-in Future Income or Equity. You need to develop a business that provides both.

Secret #3: Sequential vs. Simultaneous

Most people try to achieve whatever success they seek sequentially. First, get an education, Next, a job. Next, a business. Next, make a good income. Next, save. Next, invest. And so on.

Entrepreneurs who get wealthy live simultaneously, not sequentially. This is both a different mindset and the use of a different set of practical skills.

Observe, for example, Donald Trump. Trump didn’t get a hit TV show … then do a book … then leverage his brand beyond real estate … then start and complete one real estate project before beginning another … then start speaking for $250,000 and up per speech … then launch a magazine. He put all of these things into motion simultaneously. And if you give yourself the excuse that “he was already successful” or “it was easy for him because he has lots of resources,” you miss the point.

Success is all about resourcefulness, not waiting until you have resources. You attract resources by being resourceful. You attract more, faster with massive, simultaneous action than with timid, slow, sequential action.

Bottom line: The Internet has opened up a vast array of possibilities for the budding entrepreneur. But your company won’t thrive just because you’ve taken it online. You need to be thinking in terms of lasting success. In other words, you need to be thinking in terms of taking advantage of every possible business-building resource at your disposal.

“The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”– Peter F. Drucker

[Ed. Note: Dan S. Kennedy is widely known, respected, and celebrated as a “millionaire-maker.” He is a trusted advisor to hugely successful entrepreneurs and corporate clients, and has been an advisor to The Internet Marketing Center for years. To learn more of Dan’s advice on making money, online and offline, you’ll want to reserve a spot at both of his upcoming teleseminars – at no cost to you. (A gift arranged by Will Bonner, the publisher of Early to Rise.) Click for more information.]