Are excuses getting in the way of your success? It's a problem we all have faced at one time in our entrepreneurial development... but getting past excuses and moving on to success can be achieved.

Want to know more about how I achieve success? I start with my marketing systems and mindset. Click the image below:

What if you had a different way of looking at it that could actually SAVE you money on ads and MAKE YOU MONEY in sales? Watch today's video to find out how.

Rubin “Huricane” Carter, who passed away over the weekend,led an inspired life. A victim of a highly publicized wrongful conviction, he did something that most in his situation would never have done: he didn’t allow his circumstances to influence who he was as a person. Instead, he focussed on righting a wrong, and invested in himself to overcome the adversities he faced.

It may have been others who were at fault for his situation, but it was Carter who to the responsibility to fix the situation he was in.

Hi story is echoed in the determination that we see in many athletes (of which he was one) whose focus on reaching a goal is their solitary guide to a positive outcome in their lives.

Until recently, I never really recognized the value of having a drive or discipline in order to actually achieve something great. Sure, I’ve seen inspirational athletics and triumphant military action… but I never equated these acts, and the determined minds behind them, with success in business and in life.

That is, until recently.

For years now, I’ve been a marketing strategist, seriously considering human reaction and potential action to the campaigns that I’ve run. But I’ve not thought at all about myself and the importance of working on my mind and mindset in order to better help others, and in turn, help myself.

It wasn’t until just before my 40th birthday last year that I realized that a change was needed in my life. A change that would turn out to be the force behind an improved business, improved financial, and most importantly, improved family dynamic. I’m slow to change (aka stubborn), but it became clear to me that I’ve been leading my life and conducting my business in such an inconsistent manner that things required a swift kick in the pants for a change.

And so, over the last several months I’ve taken time to invest in myself, but reading and listening to positive and inspirational messages. I’ve crossed paths with Les Brown, Jim Rohn, Dale Carnegie, and, yes, Rubin Carter, who, spent much of the last decade of his life as a motivational speaker - particularly working with prisoners and with the Innocence Project.

As I continue to work with clients in my marketing business, I have added one crucial element to my standard lineup of advice. That is that in order to improve their business, they need to be certain to invest in improving themselves first.
If the ideas of motivation, inspiration, and personal development appeal to you, I’d like to introduce you to the Inner Circle Audio Vault, a monthly subscription that is the backbone to shaping my mindset.

Why mindset? Because the better you treat yourself, the better you will treat others… and because “Everything Is Marketing.”

This post originally appeared here.

This is not a blog about politics, but I’m about to make what some will interpret as a political statement. I’m very happy the United States now has the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). I watched the entire process of making it happen unfold a few years ago. Sure it was messy, but as of this week, there are over 8 million more people who now have health insurance (and are seeing medical professionals for the first time). 

And while the law is clearly imperfect - and will go through revisions over time - it is helping people I know, address their health concerns in a way they were unable to before, because of pre-existing conditions that wouldn’t have allowed them to get insurance.

One of these people is a man named David Sharpe. David has become a major influence on my life, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of others.  A former drug addict, he went on to break with his addiction and achieve great personal and financial success, including becoming the co-founder of a company I’m associated with called Empower Network. 

Recently, David announced that he was suffering from an illness that he likely contracted during his drug addicted years, and yesterday decided to step down from his high profile role with his company to focus on his health. 

David, in a blog post from early March, 2014 told the story of how he had been aware of his condition but had put off treating it.  Here’s, in part, what he wrote:

“…So I am (finally) because I was able to get insurance since of the recent health bill went into effect which made it possible for someone with a “pre-existing” condition to get approved, and because I’m ready to face two of my biggest fears, which are:

“1) Going through treatment for the virus and dealing with the chance I might not clear it, as well as any side effects of the treatment.

“2) Publicly sharing I have Hepatitis-C and becoming vulnerable to all the possible judgement and stigma that comes along with having a virus that could become terminal if I don’t treat it.”

Now here is the lesson - his story (and other similar stories of people on the road to triumph) is inspiring and compelling. It probably will have a positive impact on the way some people will think about the new Federal health laws. But not everyone.

Seth Godin refers to this issue by explaining that different people have different worldviews. That is to say that some of us were pre-conditioned to like the Affordable Care Act while some of us will never support it, no matter how many compelling stories we hear. 

So it really comes down to this for marketers. Using stories can be very compelling, but the story will not resonate with everyone… nor should you try to make it do so. By identifying the audience with the specific worldview you are trying to reach, and speaking ONLY to them, your marketing will be far more compelling and far more effective. I learned this concept from reading Seth Godin. I learn how to do it by listening to David Sharpe.

Originally posted at http://www.baeronmarketing.com/blog/how-compelling-stories-sell-sometimes

Every year hundreds of thousands of people dive headfirst into a brand-new business or brand-new industry with the hope of financial and personal success. Unfortunately success is fleeting for most.

Just take a look at these staggering numbers:

• Real estate agents have a 90% failure rate.
• Insurance brokers have a 92% failure rate.
• Network marketers have a 97% failure rate.

Small businesses in general have a 98% failure rate.

The obvious question is “why is failure so common?” Let’s try to boil it down to a few basic things: 

1. People who enter these industries buy into a huge amount of old-school, antiquated business-building systems that simply don't work as well as they used to.
2. All of these industries attract many first-time entrepreneurs… but hardly any of them prepare a first-timer adequately for the necessary shift in their mind-set that they need in order to succeed.
3. There's a huge amount of competition out there in each of these industries… and most entrepreneurs and first-time business owners have no idea how to differentiate themselves from everybody else in the crowd.

So the obvious question is, how do I become one of that 2 to 10% to actually succeeds?

Well I have some answers. You may not like them, but if you're after success, you need to do a little work. Check out today's video for some more insight into how to overcome these she was failure rate statistics in your business.

CLICK HERE to discover how to overcome those crazy failure rates and thrive in your own business.

And CLICK HERE if you are ready to TAKE ACTION DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW!

Originally posted HERE

If you don't know Jaime tardy and her podcast, Eventual Millionaire, We need to change that right now. Jaime is one of a handful of podcasters I listen to religiously. Each other so she interviews someone who has achieved business success and is now a millionaire in their own right. Her guests come from all over the place, representing many different industries, but they all have common themes behind their stories.

Jamie just wrote a book, compiled from her experience and conversations with so many successful people. It basically explains how anyone can be an entrepreneur and successfully grow their business into something meaningful and financially rewarding. Check out this video is your little bit more about the book and Jamie:

You can get a copy of the book via my Amazon affliate link here.

You can also find her podcast on iTunes here.

Both are totally worth your time!

Jon's site is great... one of the best Facebook authorities out there. Do yourself a favor and join his email list!

Tony Rush, one of the leaders in an organization I'm actually it with, often likes to say that your organization is a leadership factory disguised as a business opportunity. That sentiment was reinforced a hundred fold for me over the past few days during a company conference for that origination.

But what I really took away from many discussions we had on leadership was the fact that there are different kinds of leaders.

I'll give you an example. You probably know the great Jack Welch, former head of General Electric and a man who has been hailed as one of the greatest organizational leaders of the 20th century. Well let's contrast him with Jim Sinegal, who headed Costco during the same time that well was at the helm of his company. Welch was the darling of the boardroom, consistently shaving the bottom 10% of his organization's payroll, while Sinegal leading organization where the employees were paid twice with their counterparts made at Walmart... and Sinegal's on salary was famously tied to that of the lowest paid employee, earning him only a fraction of what other CEOs at major corporations were paid.

Welch's decisions were aimed at Wall Street, while Sinegal's were a philosophically driven statement about the value of his employees and their importance in his organization. Which one is the real leader?

If I've learned nothing else over the course of these past several days, I certainly learned what kind of leaders my organization has… that they lead by example… and that there example informs the way I want to lead others as well.

We heard the concepts "lead with value" and "give without expectation" A lot during this conference. A lot of organizations use that sort of verbage these days, but when it comes down to it they have trouble reconciling the desire to deliver value and the underlying need to make sales.

I'm so proud to be part of an organization which has figured out the formula for enabling these two necessary components to coexist happily.

If this sort of leadership inspires you, and you have a desire to be a part of an organization whose focus is to bring value to you and your customers, click here to learn how you can join me in this leadership factory disguised as business opportunity.

If you are struggling writing emails or email follow ups? I have a few ideas on how to find inspiration and content for unlimited marketing emails... written on ANY keyword, for ANY subject, and in ANY niche.

Here's how...

First, head on overe to a little website I like to call GOOGLE. (If you haven't hear of it, you can find it at www.google.com).

Then, simply type in "site:getresponse.com + archive KEYWORD" (KEYWORD isn't actually what you'll be typing. Instead you should type the keyword you want to write about. Duh).

Once you have run your Google search, you'll wind up with a bunch of email broadcasts from others in your field or niche who you can read and borrow ideas from. 

Basically, you are searching the publically available getresponse.com email archives. The same can be done with other email services like aweber.com or mailchimp.com.

You can both spy on and become inspired by your competition this way.