Pete’s Leap of Faith

I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I made one of the best decisions of my life… to start my own Internet business.

It was back in July 2008, and I was working as a quality inspector in the struggling Detroit automotive industry. I was like every other married guy with five kids… working hard and doing what I could to secure a stable financial future for my family.

I had been reading ETR for a couple of years, and loved it. I regularly applied the things I learned from it to both my personal and professional life… but I always wanted something more.

I was really interested in creating an additional stream of income from an Internet business, but I didn’t have a lot of discretionary income laying around to spend on training. Plus, I didn’t consider myself an “expert” at anything.

Sure, I had nearly 25 years of health and fitness experience, I loved motorcycles, I enjoyed wine and craft beer… but I didn’t know how to turn my passions into a business. Especially one that didn’t require a huge capital investment.

I finally made a “leap of faith,” put my trust in ETR, and made the decision to attend the 5 Days in July Conference in Denver.

Because of that, I now have a website (The Healthy Minute), an e-newsletter, and a growing list of customers. In other words, everything I need to generate a steady stream of income for years to come.
If you’ve been thinking about starting your own Internet business, or even if you already have one but you still seem to be struggling, keep reading. You’ll discover the exact 3-step strategy I used to start my money-making website from scratch.

I shared these “3 Key Steps” with a few people over drinks during the “networking cocktail reception” at the most recent 5 Days event in Miami (where I was invited back as a coach).

Now, I want to share them with you…

Step 1: Find Your Motivation

When I was first considering an Internet business, I always found reasons NOT TO get started…

• It’s not the right time.
• I’m way too busy with 5 kids at home… the youngest still in diapers.
• I don’t have enough money.
• I’m not really an “expert” in anything.
• I don’t know anything about programming or building a website.

Any of these sound familiar?

It’s always easier to make excuses and find reasons not to do something than it is to do it. What I needed to do was find my WHY TOs… the reasons why I had to start my Internet business without further delays.

Here’s an exercise you can try…

Instead of focusing on the negative and coming up with reasons not to start your own Internet business, think only about the WHY TO things that motivate you.

When I did this exercise, here were my 3 major motivations:

1. I’m married with 5 children, and I want to spend more quality time with my family. I need to do something that allows me to have a more flexible schedule.

2. I work in the automotive industry, and I know we are headed for a severe recession. I need a backup plan. (No… I’m not psychic! Those of us in the industry saw the writing on the wall a couple of years before it made national headlines.)

3. I was just injured in a serious motorcycle accident… and I feel blessed to be alive. What can I do to help people and make a positive difference in their lives?

Get out a pen and a piece of paper and write down your top motivations. Post them on your bathroom mirror or next to your computer screen. Read them out loud every day until you feel compelled to take action.

Then move on to…

Step 2: Get Off the Sidelines

When I was playing football in college, a coach once said to me: “If you want to get in the game, you have to get off the sidelines.” He explained that in order to earn playing time you had to get noticed by the other players and coaches, “jump to the front of the line” during drills, showcase your talents, and work harder than the guys you’re competing against.

If you just stand on the sidelines and let the other players do these things, that’s where you’ll stay… on the sidelines and out of the game. Where’s the fun in that?

This exact same principle applies to starting an Internet marketing business.

Before launching my first site, I wasted nearly two years researching Internet marketing techniques. I read tons of information from various “gurus,” started, stopped, changed directions… and I wound up exactly where I had started.

Nowhere!

And, just like in college football, it wasn’t fun.

Are you stuck in this same position?

If so, Michael Masterson’s advice is “Ready, Fire, Aim.” Nike tells you to “Just Do It!” I say you’ve got to MAKE THE COMMITMENT to yourself to get off the sidelines and get in the game.

We’re all saying the same thing.

Then, once you’re fully committed, it’s time for…

Step 3: Do NOT Reinvent the Wheel

If you do exactly what I say in this step, you’ll not only get your own money-making Internet business up and running, you’ll do it faster (in as little as 5 days), cheaper, and with less effort! This is the exact same step I followed to build my website.

Are you ready for this?

I cheated.

That’s right… I cheated. Just like the kid who doesn’t study because he sits next to the smartest student in class. He just peeks at the answers and passes with flying colors. Only I didn’t have to sneak a peak at the answers… they were given to me.

Here’s how I did it:

• I found the smartest group of people in the Internet marketing business…the experts from Early to Rise.
• I found out exactly how they built their own successful websites. (Hint: It’s called the “Agora Model,” and I learned it at ETR’s 5 Days in July Conference)
• I ethically “borrowed” the successful parts of their model and applied it to my own business. I didn’t copy everything exactly, but if you put my website side-by-side with Early to Rise or Total Health Breakthroughs, you can’t help but see the similarities.

That’s all there was to it.

This is the best way I know of to start any new business… especially an Internet business.

Why spend a bunch of time, money, and energy trying to “reinvent the wheel” when you can have a PROVEN business model just handed to you on a silver platter?

Is it easy? Yes… but it is still work. The experts from ETR walked me through every aspect of starting an Internet business step-by-step, but I still had to put in the effort to make it succeed.

But it was worth every second!

Besides my wedding day and the births of my five children, the day I made my first Internet sale ranks as one of the most exciting of my life. Follow the 3-step strategy I outlined above, and you’ll soon know exactly how I felt.

[Ed. Note: Pete Genot is the founder and editor of The Healthy Minute – a free online newsletter publishing the latest breakthroughs in the health industry. Each issue is designed to be read in about 1 minute, and can help you live a longer, healthier life. Sign up today and Pete will send you a free report that details an abdominal workout routine he’s developed over the last 25 years. You have to see his before and after photos.

As Pete mentioned, he went from being an ETR student to being an instructor (and impromptu expert speaker) at our recent 5 Days in July Conference. Another conference Pete never misses is our annual Info-Marketing Bootcamp. It’s where we gather the top dozen Internet business builders working today and put them in the room with 200 or so of our best customers. The result is hundreds of successful new Internet-based ventures.]