Zap Your Reality
They say that 99% of people are imitators and 1% are initiators. So which category do you fall into?
Being an initiator is not difficult but it does require work. When was the last time you initiated a new project, a product upgrade or anything cool and beneficial?
Most people and businesses are happy to get to a comfortable level and then the initiation button gets switched off for good. Complacency and laziness are the biggest killers of initiative.
Taking initiative does not require talent or skill. It just requires YOU to do something. I hear tons of people complaining about their jobs everyday. But they aren’t willing to do anything about it.  Well instead of complaining, take some initiative: Initiate a way to improve your situation, come up with a new idea, apply for another job, start a business or quit.
You can become an initiator right now. Try starting small. Just come up with a new idea and suggest it to someone. How about organizing coffee and breakfast for your team? Initiate something new everyday and you will be on your way to great success.
I am adding a new and very important category - “Health and Fitness”.
Fitness and weight training has always been one of my passions and this aspect of life can positively affect other parts of life more than you may think, especially business.
Everyone should work out on a regular basis. Here are some of the benefits:
Too many people just place an aesthetic value on working out but there is way more to it than that. Working out needs to become part of your lifestyle and a continual challenge. Once you accept training as a part of your life, you WILL start to enjoy it and you WILL look forward to it. When it does become part of your life, you will wonder how the hell you survived all those years just lounging around eating junk.
We are only given one body and we need to make the most of it. If you are too lazy to look after your most valuable asset (yourself), then how can you be taken seriously for any other responsibility? If you don’t have the self respect to stay in reasonable shape then you certainly won’t get respect from anyone else.
Image definitely matters and looking good should be part of your overall plan for success. Whether you are trying to score a new job, going on a date or being a salesman, your image will affect your success. If you are fit and look healty, this image will project out to others and they will feel your energy. But an out-of-breath fatty just won’t cut it. Who would you rather deal with?
If I am doing business with someone that won’t spend 90 minutes per week looking after themself, what kind of service will they give me?
Anyway, the good news is that it’s actually pretty easy to get in shape. I used to be a fat turd myself, so I am talking from experience. Over time I will discuss some great workout techniques as well as good eating habits to follow for effective fat loss and muscle gain.
Get back to work!
All I have been hearing lately is Twitter this and Twitter that. Personally I am not a big fan of any social site and think it takes away from real world interaction and is creating a zombie nation.
However, when it comes to making money from a social network, that is a different story. Facebook and Myspace monetization is old news. The lattest chatter is all about monetizing Twitter and the evolution of Twitter ad networks. I am not one for hype, so I figured it was time to test this out and see what the deal is.
I have to say that I have been impressed with the results so far. I threw in a couple hundred bucks for testing, and so far $35 spent has generated approximately $91. This is small fry, but was generated with just a couple of ads. Scaling will be the next issue.
I do believe Twitter monetization (at the moment) is easier than some of the other social networks. Mainly because it is new and the tweets aren’t your typical ads, so users haven’t yet developed “banner blindness”. As with anything online, the gap will close once it becomes flooded with advertising, but for now it looks promising.
In: Business
30 Jul 2009Getting into business doesn’t have to be costly or risky. You can do it on the cheap without putting much on the line. The idea that you have to take bigger risks or spend more to achieve significant returns doesn’t always hold true in business.
In fact, for anyone new to business, I would highly recommend that you start off on the cheap to get a feel for business and taking on some real responsibility. The only ingredients necessary to get started are time and hard work.
So before you run off and buy that ripoff franchise for $200k, first think about trying something yourself. Starting a business from scratch is more rewarding and you can keep the capital to invest in yourself. Besides, some of the businesses/franchises for sale are no different to buying a job.
Need some ideas for a low cost business you can start:
The list can go on. Those took a whole 30 seconds to think up, so I am sure you can do a lot better. Want to start one of the above, then go ahead. Let me know and I will even send you a business plan to get started.
OK, get back to work!
In: Business
29 Jul 2009Do you really need the greatest idea in the world to cash in? Hell no!
Too often I see people discouraged about getting into business because they claim to have no “great” ideas.  The idea itself is really not the crucial element. The most important part of any idea is the execution. You can take a great idea and completely blow it with poor execution or you can take an average idea and make it rock with the right execution and marketing.
So don’t sit around trying to think of some incredible idea that will change the world, because it doesn’t work like that. Take an existing idea you already have and think about making that great. Here is how you can make your existing idea achieve greatness:
Take something like a lawnmowing or cleaning business. These are hardly unique ideas but with the right execution even they can generate good cash flow. Most of these services (in my experience) provide horrible service and they have poor (no) marketing. Try one of these businesses, focus on their weakpoints and execute properly, you will make money.
I am sure your ideas are more unique than the above example, so get to work. If you don’t think you can do it, then just send me your ideas, because I will be more than happy to cash in on them.
My philosophy in business and investing is to do what pays.
I didn’t always have this philosophy, it actually came to me after many years of not doing what pays. People are usually hesitant at first when I offer this advice, but I will give you some examples of what you should be doing, especially if you are thinking of getting into business for the first time, or changing up your existing business model.
Time
Time is your most valuable asset and unfortunately we all have very limited amounts. The biggest waste of time is a 9-5 job. Not only is this a huge drain on time, but it also delivers very little financial returns and offers very little stimulation (unless you love your job, then it’s a different story).
Most people spend at least 40 hours per week at their job + commuting and they do this for 30-40 years. This doesn’t leave a lot of time left for anything else and financially it probably doesn’t leave room for much either.
Wouldn’t it be better to spend the majority of your time doing things you actually enjoy? Wouldn’t additional time spent with your family be better than spending it with strangers in a big office building?
OK, so i am getting a little off topic here, but you get the point. Time is your most valuable asset, so don’t waste it.
Money
For maximizing the value of your time, when assessing business opportunities, look at the following:
1) Returns vs Effort: the first thing to look at is potential return vs effort required. There are many businesses that simply don’t pay well. They require hard work, long hours, lots of stress and the financial return is crap. You will find a lot of these businesses in the hospitality/food industry.
2) Owner Presence: As the owner of the business, will you need to spend all of your time in this business. If the business is going to collapse into a heap the second you leave, then it’s similar to a job (maybe worse). You should aim for a business model that you can nurture but eventually run without being there 24/7. Some businesses will never be able to run themselves without your presence. But with a good system, you can get most businesses to run with some level of autonomy.
3) Scalability: This is very important because it determines if you will really maximize the value of your time spent. If you devote time and energy into building a business, you will eventually hit a limit for that business. If the business is scalable, then the time and effort you have already invested can easily be leveraged into creating another business unit. ie: You don’t need to invest additional time to generate extra revenue sources, but you do need to invest in resources.
Scaling your business could involve adding new stores, hiring new staff to expand your service or expanding your marketing once you have found what works well. One of the reasons internet businesses are so powerful and have created so many millionaires, is due to scalability. There is almost an unlimited volume online and tapping into additional sources of traffic is very simple.
4) Residual Income: If you really want to make big bucks and minimize long term efforts, then you need to find business models that offer residual income. Getting a one time payoff is great, but its much more fun when you generate recurring incomes or have a business that can be put on autopilot. There is a snowball effect that happens and after a while the cash can really come flooding in.
A great example of residual income is the mortgage broking business. Sell a home loan and you will receive a monthly commission while that loan is on your books. Similar things happen in the mobile phone business.
As far as setting up a business on autopilot, look into the affiliate marketing business. A well crafted campaign can be created and left for months without much additional work. During that time it can bring in sales 24/7.
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OK, so those are some tips on finding a business that pays. However, that doesn’t mean that you should do something you don’t enjoy just for the sake of making money. Look for something that you love doing and if it doesn’t deliver acceptable returns, find a way to tweak it into a business model that does pay. Eg: You might love coffee, but cafes are a crap business. So you might try something like running coffee carts across town (scalable), or become a coffee consultant, or coffee supplier etc etc.
One last thing I forgot to add. Whatever you do, make sure you aim to be the best!
Have fun!
In: Marketing
21 Jul 2009I already discussed the power of writing stuff down when setting goals. Writing it down helps you believe it and achieve it.
Now smart marketers also know this and they have been using this little trick to their advantage for years.
Power of Writing in Marketing
Here is a great example. Have you ever seen those little surveys that ask you to write 25 words about a product and you can win a prize for doing so. Well the survey is generally something along the lines of “In no more than 25 words, tell us what you love about XYZ Aspirin”.
Usually there is some great prize, like a vacation or even a car. So even if you have never used the product, its worth entering right? Just write down 25 positive words about why YOU love the product. It shouldn’t be too hard to make something up. Or, perhaps you have used the product, maybe you hated it, but who cares. There is a cool prize to be won, so you are going to write down something positive just for the chance of winning the prize.
Now you have to sit down and think about something positive to write. Once you are ready, you put pen to paper, but it may even take a couple of revisions until you are happy with the final copy. But the end result is that you have written some nice praise for a product.
So what has just happened here?
Well, by writing something down, you become much more committed to it. So even if you don’t particularly like a product, by writing down positive things about it, you will start to feel that these are your thoughts and that they are TRUE.
All of a sudden, people trying to win a contest are becoming sold on a product, simply by writing down why they like it. So this technique is a really cool method for increasing sales and popularity for a product or service. Try it sometime!
Yes, it’s true, you have been programmed for failure from a very young age.
For the majority of us, we are brought up to go to school, then college, get a good job then eventually retire at the age of 60, after which you can finally do the things in life worth living for.
Most people battle on for their whole life, working a crappy job that they hate, never taking a risk and never doing anything different. If you are reading this blog, then you are either one of the lucky few that hasn’t been programmed for failure, or you are ready to be reprogrammed and live the life you want, now.
The system
For 99% of us (myself included), the system (school, family and friends) trains us for only one outcome in life. That is to get a 9-5 job and be happy with it. The school system keeps us for 12 years, but doesn’t teach a whole lot, other than how to work for others. College is great fun, but again it’s only providing a piece of paper that makes it easier to transition into a 9-5 job as another drone.
Family, relatives and friends will also echo the same message, “just get a good job”. Thinking outside of this paradigm will quite often be criticized or condemned as “stupidity”.
So after years of this brainwashing it can be hard for anyone to see the light. It gets to the point where we are happy to accept our situation and work a job that we hate year after year.
I personally found it difficult to break the programming, because after years of being taught that life is just about getting a degree and then finding a job, I didn’t know any better. However, settling for mediocrity was not something I was about to accept, ever. Neither should you.
Be Different and Take a Risk
One of the best ways to break the programming is to be different and take a risk. Once you realize that it’s ok to be different and follow your own path, this is the starting point for success.
You will need to take some risks along the way, but its a hell of a lot more fun than playing it safe and being a corporate drone. You need not take big risks, but you will need to put something on the line. This might be financial risk, or the risk of your family and friends thinking you are an idiot or you might just be risking time (which is the most valuable asset).
Starting small and testing the waters is also a great way to get started. Most important is that you just take action. To earn a million dollars, you need to make $1 first, just like losing 100lbs requires you to first lose 1lb.
Trust me, there are many ways to make a great living that don’t involve working a 9-5 job. You can live a much better lifestyle and make way better money doing something that you love. If that is possible, why aren’t you pursuing it?
Don’t Fear Failure
I know many people are scared to death of failing. There is nothing wrong with trying and failing.
For one of my early business ventures, everyone told me not to do it and to be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. I ended up losing a lot of cash and going into debt. However, the experience itself was invaluable. I would not trade it for anything. That failure paved the way for some huge successes afterwards.
Almost every successful business person has their stories of failure. If it doesn’t kill you, it will just make you stronger.
I personally think the biggest failure of all is not trying something.
More Ideas
OK, to prove its not difficult to get started in something, here are a couple of ideas of how you could start making some cash.
1) Start an affiliate marketing business – selling other peoples products online. This requires virtually no startup money and there is no risk.
2) Go to alibaba.com and source some products from China. Maybe buy some USB toys, or cufflinks. Order 500 units and start selling them to friends, family, ebay or setup a retail store.
Did you know that writing stuff down makes you more committed to actually doing it.
One of the keys to achieving goals is to write them down first. You see, by writing it down, this gets you to actually think of your goal and set a vision for it. Once the idea has been conceived and written down, you have taken the first step towards achieving the goal.
The average person doesn’t even have a clue what their goals are. So one of the things that separates average people from successful people is having a vision of what they want to achieve, then working towards this vision. Successful people are not smarter, or special, they just know what they want.
Dont just write it down, believe it
Now don’t think you can just write down on a piece of paper “I want to be rich”, and it will happen overnight. You need to set out specific goals and always set a timeframe. Each day, spend some time looking at what you have written and take action everyday in working towards what you have written.
Example: A few years ago when I was testing out some online marketing, I wanted to hit the $1000/day mark, so I wrote this down and set the deadline month to achieve it by. Each day, I would repeat this number to myself at least 50 times and it was stuck on my monitor so I couldn’t miss it.
I did miss the deadline, but this just added to the motivation. Anyway, to cut a long story short, when I did hit $1000/day it was about 3 months over the deadline (not too bad), but it did work.
This can work for anything, losing weight, getting fit, getting a promotion, new car etc. Just write it down, be speficic and start working towards it.
RealityZap is all about creating and living the reality you want. We want to help you achieve this through self improvement, a winning mindset and the right attitude. Follow me on Twitter: RealityZap on Twitter