What is the potential value of information? – Zero to priceless. The question is what you do with it.

We live, it is said, in an Information Age, and Information Economy.

What we actually live in is Access to Information Age.

There was always information, scientists have information (though mostly theories), doctors have information (some wrong some right), savants and mad men (not the same by the way) have information, Corporations have information, Governments (God bless them) have information. They always have.

The difference is now we can access it (mostly). However along with that access comes all the debris and flotsam and jetsam of everybody’s lives. Now we can see baby’s laughing endlessly on Videos, Cats on  piano Videos, cats flying out of windows Videos, people using food mixers to mix iPads. And then we have emails and posts and articles about all of the above, plus more.

We also have anybody’s and everybody’s opinion about …well everything. Together, of course, with videos, pdf downloadable reports, free eBooks and every other form of media they can use.

What is the real value of all that information? What is the real value of a cat on a piano on YouTube? I am guessing about the same as a bad TV sitcom.

The real value of anything, information or otherwise is You. You and your actions

Let’s, for arguments sake, say you are looking for ways to make money online, and you download a few, then a few hundred ‘ free reports’ and ‘push button guaranteed’ ways to make money, and the more you investigate the more confused you become. What is the value of the information?

The value is always the same. Zero to priceless. It depends on you and your activities.

If you are experienced in a certain aspect of Internet Marketing and you download and buy information about that expertise that allows you to move forward. Then that information has value.

If you are a beginner and have no set ways to go, then everything is bewildering, and probably at that point valueless. The information might as well not exist.

So how do you take advantage of this wave of information that is now accessible, without drowning?

Here’s a few steps you can take

1) Have a plan:

Let’s say you want to make money online and have no knowledge of what that takes. Then, like a college course make out a Time Plan. It takes a minimum of three years to get a degree in anything – give yourself some time to learn. For instance give yourself a year to examine all the different aspects of the internet, try what makes sense, then try something else. Expect no money for all your work and studying and efforts, this is the learning curve. This is school

Take some overall general courses that are out there – like Ed Dale’s free Challenge course, or any beginners course. Do all the steps. Do them all whether they seem dumb or not.

At the end of that time evaluate.

Don’t take in any more information, no more reports , no more webinars.

Evaluate where you may have strengths.

Perhaps you have found a product you like that you know a lot about – focus on selling that as an affiliate. Perhaps you have found a digital piece of information you know you could improve on. Focus there. Perhaps you found by accident one on your online attempts paid off to a small degree. Focus there. Hopefully, like college, you have networked, maybe been to a few seminars, make some connections. Maybe work with a team for a while.

Focus on one thing. Go with it as far as you can go, learn from your mistake. And certainly learn from any successes. Ignore everything else

2) The goal in terms of making money is to focus on – One or at the maximum Two fields of endeavor. Don’t try and cover everything. Don’t try and have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, Three Blogs and all of them in five different markets. Narrow everything down to one market, one segment of a market and focus there. Do not take in any information outside of that field until either it pays off or you are satisfied you have given it enough time and effort and it does not work for you. Then look at ONE other field. One only.

3) Making money, learning a hobby, doing well at a sport, takes concentration and effort over time. It  requires your undivided attention. Pick one thing and do it well. Do it until it fails or do it until it succeeds. Give it your undivided attention

Focusing in on a plan, makes information you take it that is relevant to that pan worth something.

Everything else is a distraction and therefore, possibly entertaining  but in terms of a return – worthless

Information is always there. It you who provide it with value

I read an email from John Reese a while ago (link) and I thought it was quite a step. But then I never heard anymore and thought maybe it was a joke or a bad attempt at doing something, radical. But no apparently Mr Reese really did dump everything (belongings)

here’s the update

From John Reese Blog:-

In early 2010, I decided to get rid of all my possessions and literally set out to just walk the earth for awhile.

I still had my money in bank accounts, but I got rid of everything else except for a small backpack that carried a few days worth of clothes, a MacBook, and an iPhone.  That’s a photo of it above, taken right before I left on my journey.

I even shutdown or got rid of many Web sites and business projects I had at the time.  It was literally like wiping the slate clean and starting from scratch.

I’ve never been a big “reseller” of items that I’ve owned.  So if I had something, anything, that I didn’t want anymore I would usually just give it away to a friend or family member.  And this is exactly what I did with most of my furniture, clothes, and other “things.”

I sold my house and the multiple cars that I owned at the time.  So I literally went from a massive house, multiple exotic cars, a huge collection of clothes & watches, every toy & gadget anyone could ever want, and tons of other STUFF down to just a small backpack that contained a few essential things — all told I was down to like 19 total items.  This included a few days worth of clothes, a pen, a toothbrush, razor, etc. etc.

I’m writing this post because a lot of people have asked me about it.  I’m going to cover this experience by breaking it down into two parts…

1.  Why I Decided To Do This

2.  What Happened…

Why Did I Decide To Get Rid Of Everything?

The answer to this question is a bit complex, but I will try my best to explain it…

I was unable to think to the best of my ability due to all the chaos around me.

That’s the easiest way to put it.  I had so much stuff in my life that my brain was busy managing it all.  I had very little thinking power left to use for creativity.

The core concept behind Minimalism is to get down to only the things that are most important to you so all of your focus will be on just those things.

To quote a great line from the movie, Fight Club…

The things you own end up owning you.

….

I realize now that a lot of that stuff was simply for EGO purposes.  For example, I used to drive a black on black Lamborghini Murcielago.  It was the ultimate head-turner.  Everywhere I went people would take photos of the car and ask me about it.  Driving down the road people would point at the car and even go around other cars just to get close enough to check it out.

It made me feel good.  It made me feel important.  At least for a short while.

I liked being admired and getting the attention that the car brought.  Now I do love sports cars and the performance aspect, but if I am to be completely honest, I had that car because NOT MANY PEOPLE ALSO HAD IT.   And that’s the important point.  I really enjoyed the fact that I had something that 99.9% of people didn’t have.

Unfortunately, this mindset is how our culture trains us to be.  Keeping up with the Joneses.  Having better stuff than our neighbors so we can in some way feel more important about ourselves.  And I got caught up in all of that like most people do.

All of that is obviously nonsense.

In recognizing this, I wanted to see how I would feel if I simply got rid of not only my fancy cars, but EVERYTHING.  How would I feel and think if I just got rid of everything and was only left with MYSELF?

So I got rid of all my stuff, packed my little backpack and I set out to travel for many months.  I started in Europe and then made my way to Central America.

Here’s What I Discovered From This Amazing Experience

read the rest on John’s Blog - HERE

Everything
you ever needed to know about Success-
in one graphic.

Well not everything the rest is in an up-coming kindle eBook

Or;-

The Complete book of Success and Succeeding-
in one graphic

Click to enlarge

Full Graphic here: – LINK

Seth Godin’s Concept – The Ideavirus

1. Create a noteworthy online experience that’s either totally new or makes the user’s life
much better. Or make an offline experience better/faster/cheaper so that switching is
worth the hassle.

—–

——-

2. Have the idea behind your online experience go viral, bringing you a large chunk of the
group you’re targeting WITHOUT having to spend a fortune advertising the new
service.

—–
3. Fill the vacuum in the marketplace with YOUR version of the idea, so that competitors
now have a very difficult time of unteaching your virus and starting their own.

—–
4. Achieve “lock in” by creating larger and larger costs to switching from your service to
someone else’s.

—–
5. Get permission from users to maintain an ongoing dialogue so you can turn the original
attention into a beneficial experience for users and an ongoing profit stream for you.

—–
6. Continue creating noteworthy online experiences to further spread new viruses, starting
with your core audience of raving fans.

The Idea Virus – Seth Godin

1. We live in a winner-take-almost-all world. (Zipf’s law.)

——-
2. We used to focus on making food. We used to make stuff. Now we make ideas.

——–
3. People are more connected than ever. Not only are we more aware that our friends have
friends but we can connect with them faster and more frequently.

———–
4. There’s a tremendous hunger to understand the new and to remain on the cutting edge.

———-
5. The profit from creating and owning an ideavirus is huge.

———–

———–

P.S: Viral marketing is a special case of an ideavirus. Viral marketing is an ideavirus in which
the carrier of the virus IS the product.

Learn The Closely Guarded Secret Of How he (Ed Dale)

ed dale

and soon YOU!

Can Make Amazing iPad and iPhone Demonstration Videos

Quoting Darren:

“It’s am eBook I’m excited about for two reasons:

1. it’s on a topic most of our readers tell us is a massive
challenge – finding time to blog (productivity)

2. it involves advice from 8 amazing bloggers (plus me). These
are nine bloggers you’ll not see collaborating together any where
else. Bloggers like Heather Armstrong from Dooce, Brian Clark
from CopyBlogger, Gretchen Rubin from Happiness Project, Abby
Larson from Style Me Pretty, Leo Babauta from Zen Habits and more!”

Join 19,000 other bloggers and kick-start your blog with this 31 day challenge

Fully redesigned, revised and updated for 2012.

Have big dreams for your blog? Got a list of improvements sitting in the ‘one day’ basket? Visitor numbers a little embarrassing?

You’re not alone.

31 Days to Build a Better Blog is a downloadable ebook designed to help you revitalize your blog. One step at a time, it will transform your blog into the page view powerhouse you’ve always dreamed of.

Designed to Make you Think, but more Importantly DO

The workbook is divided into 31 easy-to-follow tasks that you can work through in your own time.

Each step in the workbook contains:

• A Task – something to DO that step.
• Teaching – each day you’ll be given in depth instruction on both the WHY and HOW of the task of the day.
• Further reading – so you can dive deeper on any task.

This three pronged approach is designed so that you come away from the challenge having not only learned how to build a better blog but you’ll have actually achieved something with the knowledge.

Click here to view more details

The advantage of the internet was/is?

1) It was the entire world searching and shopping in one place
2) The entrance fee was free
3) Marketing Plan is simple;
a. You find a market
b. You ask what it wants
c. You give that market what it wants

In 2000 – 2008 – for the individual entrepreneur, it was a lot of work, a little cost, and literally the world was your marketplace (oyster).

But since 2010 the ‘gurus’ (the large independent marketers) have been spreading the alarm. Ryan Diess (bless him) was the first -, then Ed Dale, Eban Pagan,Mike Filisaime (Frank Kern was almost invisible) – all of them saying how the Internet, as with all other markets was going to the big players – Google (and their Panda) Facebook, Amazon etc, were swallowing, or would swallow the Internet whole – and if not them – other players lurked off-line, just waiting. It was inevitable

Their answer?

Collaboration

Work with them (the gurus), they had the resources to fight these massive companies. They had spent years creating their organizations and now they were opening them up to us, the struggling individual for only a few thousand dollars.

And you have to say their strategy is correct (both for them and the individual with the money)

Let’s work together.

Traffic is the life blood of Internet Marketing – or as Frank Kern says , it’s not Marketing – its Sales. Traffic is the internet equivalent of customers through the door of a retail store.

In 2000 you could get traffic to any website for 10-15censt a click. You just bought traffic, huge amounts of it.

In 2008 it was still only 30 – 50 cents. And then there was Facebook with cheap targeted, PPC ads available, for a tremendously market

Its 2012, pay per clicks for less than $1.00 aren’t worth it. And if the conversion rate is 5% or 6% (and that’s generous) you spend $100 to get 5 or 6 people looking at your page. Then you have to convert those ‘lookers at say 2% to get 1 sale.. No wonder the Gurus want huge price tags on their products. They want their sales profitable. It cost them too.

Unless you have a large list to email to. But you don’t have a large list, because you are just starting.

So is the day of the entry level businessperson finished on the internet?

I don’t think so. It never will be. Yes there will be change, constant change, and consolidation of course. Facebook is virtually an internet to itself, in terms of eyeballs to sell too –Facebook is bigger than Google. But then once upon a time there was AOL – what happened to them?

Things change – it’s a given

There will be consolidation, and change, that is a given.

But always there will be room for the individual. It will always be a little more work, require a little more strategy, and last year’s strategy won’t be this years.

But the Internet is the world’s marketplace.

And everybody uses Search to find what they want. And anyone can get in front of those searches, with good SEO, with good research, with thoughtful strategy, without large cost. Just work.

The other thing that has happened – traffic has changed. Before it was only ‘search’. Now the traffic is at YouTube, and Amazon, and Kindle and Nook and iTunes.

And all these players are begging for collaboration. Not just with huge organizations, but with as many varied players as possible. That means they are keeping the entry level always accessible.

It still costs nothing to be an affiliate for Amazon, or to even publish on Amazon or Kindle, or Nook. It costs nothing to set up a channel on YouTube (remember Video will soon surpass regular data by volume on the internet – globally).Wordpress is still free, so to build your store front is still free.

(and web hosting and domain names have never been so cheap and available)

So Internet Marketing in 2012 for the little guy? The newbie, the entry level entrepreneur?

Still the best market there is. It’s the whole world in one place.

And so far (so far) it’s the cheapest way to become rich ever known.

To access search is free, to access YouTube’s traffic is free, to access Amazon’s traffic is free, even Facebook traffic (though their Ad prices are now Google prices).

You just have to be serious about strategy. Be a business person and expected the unexpected, expect things to change, never have all your income in one place, and be prepared to rethink your perfect strategy. It’s just work. Not money.

Compared to the Internet for the individual entrepreneur – all the other marketplaces, are so small, and require such large capital cost to break into.

For the entrepreneur, for the person who wants to create their own business, and will take riches if they can get them, but are happy just to have their own thing – The Internet is still THE place to be.

The internet is still the smart way to go. You just have be smart about it.

Go were the traffic is. Go where the traffic is huge and free and think of ways to get infront of it

In 2012 Internet video will account for over 50 percent of consumer Internet traffic

High-definition video-on-demand surpasses standard definition by the end of 2011.

…………………….

Global IP traffic has increased eightfold over the past 5 years, and will increase fourfold over the next 5 years.

In 2015, the gigabyte equivalent of all movies ever made will cross global IP networks every 5 minutes.

The “terabyte club” will reach 6 million by 2015.In 2015, there will be 6 million Internet households worldwide generating over a terabyte per month in Internet traffic, up from just a few hundred thousand in 2010.

The number of devices connected to IP networks will be twice as high as the global population in 2015.

There will be two networked devices per capita in 2015, up from one networked device per capita in 2010.

A growing amount of Internet traffic is originating with non-PC devices.

In 2010, only 3 percent of Internet traffic originated with non-PC devices, but by 2015 the non-PC share of Internet traffic will grow to 15 percent

Traffic from wireless devices will exceed traffic from wired devices by 2015

Busy-hour traffic is growing more rapidly than average traffic. Busy-hour traffic will increase fivefold by 2015, while average traffic will increase fourfold.

During an average hour in 2015, the traffic will be equivalent to 200 million people streaming high-definition video continuously.

During the busy hour in 2015, the traffic will be equivalent to 500 million people streaming high-definition video continuously.

Global Internet video traffic surpassed global peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic in 2010, and by 2012 Internet video will account for over 50 percent of consumer Internet traffic

High-definition video-on-demand will surpass standard definition by the end of 2011.

Global mobile data traffic will grow three times faster than fixed IP traffic from 2010 to 2015. Global mobile data traffic was 1 percent of total IP traffic in 2010, and will be 8 percent of total IP traffic in 2015.

IP traffic is growing fastest in Latin America, followed closely by the Middle East and Africa.

Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2010-2015

Here’s the Biggest Secret…

Ready?

There are no secrets.

There is only dedicated applied attitude and enthusiasm to a proven vehicle over a constant period of time.

Wait a minute you say – there’s the famous ‘ The Secret ‘ DVD (soon to be a musical) that has motivated hundreds of people, thousands of people.
Yes it has.

And that was about getting your mind right, sometimes called motivation and it is a wonderful thing, for a day or so – but no-one achieves any form of success because they watched a video or – (hard to believe) just because they saw a Tony Robbins video.

There also has to be a reason, a method and a dream, and a work plan that can be harnessed to the motivation.
‘The Secret’ offered different ways of believing – and belief is everything, yes – but not random motivation. First there has to be a thing you want to achieve, a dream, a goal, a reason -and then that dream and that goal needs fuel, and the fuel is belief.

Motivation alone does nothing other than produce adrenaline.

If you just think it would be cool’ to be successful in say, the Internet Marketing field, that’s ‘nice’. It’s not powerful, it’s not demanding, and it’s not enough. But if you want to ‘own’ a particular niche in Internet Marketing, and you are bound and determined to be the best part of that niche – that is powerful, that will drive you forward.

Motivation, ‘secret strategies” and ‘automatic guaranteed success software’- are great marketing pitches, but they do nothing, and produce nothing. No-one, ever (let me repeat) no-one ever, became successful because he or she was mindlessly motivated, or found a secret no-one else had. No-one has ever – ever- become successful on any form of auto-pilot.

Success is achievement – and achievement takes dedication, work, and applied enthusiasm. And it takes time.

Think of athletes, at say, the Olympics – are they motivating themselves there? Yes of course.
Are they self-talking and focusing to get into some form of the ‘Zone’? Yes

Is that their secret? -No.

The Olympics is the culmination of at least, at least, 10 years of training and effort and sweat and doing things when you didn’t want to, and when you hurt and when you were sick and when you didn’t believe in any fiber of your being that you could achieve anything. The Olympics is the stage show – but the effort is always behind stage, off stage.

Much like a speaker at a Success or Internet Conference -they don’t create success on stage. The work and the success is in the years of work and dedicated effort that put them there, on that stage, the work you don’t see. The work you have to do, when no-one is watching, when there is no applause.

Success is achievement and achievement is work.

No-one likes work, everyone like achievement – so what is going to get you through the work, the non-stop, endless work to get to the achievement?

Motivation? Certainly.
Secrets? Yes – if you believe in secrets enough that they motivate you.
Effort – yes but directed effort.
Enthusiasm? Yes – but never just enthusiasm alone.

What keeps all these things together through the failures and the ups and the downs?

Your strong belief that you want the thing you want. That is called the dream. A dream you believe you can ‘own’.

Everyone at the Olympics is there to win, but there is only one winner in any event – so are the other dreams false – should they have never dreamed? Are all the rest losers?

Now that is language no ‘winner’ ever speaks, because to achieve you need focus, and the dream is the focus.

If you have trained for 10 years to win the 100 meter or 500 meter race, and you don’t, that year, you either go on to the next Olympics, wiser and stronger or if time has run out you stop – but you know, you absolutely know, those 10 years were the most important 10 years of your life – when you were focused, and rich in energy and belief and achieved something less than 0.1% of the world ever achieves. You went to the Olympics.

Having a dream is the ultimate secret. The dream and an absolute committed belief that – this particular dream – you own.

The rest is all work.
And attitude.
And enthusiasm.

Success is never accidental – and that’s no secret.

“I remember one time I was driving through e a s t e r n Arizona and I saw one of those giant earth-moving machines roaring along the road with what looked like 30 tons of dirt in it – a tremendous, incredible machine – and there was a little man perched way up on top with the wheel in his hands, guiding it. As I drove along I was struck by the similarity of that machine to the human mind. Just suppose you’re sitting at the controls of such a vast source of energy. Are you going to sit back and fold your arms and let it run itself into a ditch? Or are you going to keep both hands firmly on the wheel and control and direct this power to a specific, worthwhile purpose? It’s up to you. You’re in the driver’s seat. You see, the very law that gives us success is a double-edged sword. We must control our thinking. The same rule that can lead people to lives of success, wealth, happiness, and all the things they ever dreamed of – that very same law can lead them into the gutter. It’s all in how they use it… for good or for bad. That is The Strangest Secret!”
Earl Nightingale – The Strangest Secret

Much as I admire the skill of these marketers as marketers – you have to admit it’s a little manipulative.

Is the Internet changing?  –Of course.

Will Google change how it does ‘search ‘? – Of course.

Will Google Plus affect ‘search’? – Good bet

Are the big companies trying to control the Internet? – Of Course-  the big companies are always trying to control the marketplace. But that is no reason to run and hide.

Here’s what you should be asking.

In 2012 -will you be an entrepreneur or a proprietor as Jay Abrahams says. That is a person who has a business, a business like any other business – or a person who does something new with business –offers a higher value result to the question asked by his or her customers.

Will you be just another person in business, struggling, or realize as Seth Godin has been saying that in this maelstrom of digital noise – you have to command attention, no sorry – earn attention. You have to offer enough value and energy and awareness and gratitude and sheer ‘product’ to your customers that you create a space for yourself in the world of commerce. You create in fact your own audience, your own customer base, followers who pay attention to what you do – not because you are shouting the loudest, but because you have in fact listened the hardest to what is being asked, and then answered with the best results. You have created your own marketplace that is loyal to you because you are loyal to it

Will you be just another marketer, as Frank Kern says in his 2012 Internet Address or someone who decides to be in and stay in the results business? No-one markets and makes money – entrepreneurs sell, because that’s where there is money and a return on your business efforts. Of course we produce or offer a product that people buy. They buy because you offer answers to the questions they are asking. They, the end user, want a certain result or consequence – they want help. And when you give then that – precisely and perfectly – you are a successful entrepreneur.

Your market is asking a question – are you answering it – precisely?  Are you answering it with a result – that is your product or service- that transforms the customer?  Does your product mean more to them than the dollars they give you back in return?

In 2012 you will not be making money – no business person MAKES money. You will have to EARN money. Be aware -there is no shortage of money – it’s just a question of whose hands it flows into. And when you are dealing with the public, the consumer at large it’s the person that answers their questions the best, and repeatedly that the money goes to

In 2012 it’s the entrepreneur that is passionate about the question their market is asking that will win. It’s the change that you offer that is important not the product. Products may come and go but the entrepreneur that stays in the hunt always adjusting their instruments of change and value. Instruments of change for the better, in their chosen marketplace

In 2012 regardless of what Google does or ‘search’ does – the entrepreneur who has built their own marketplace that has their own customer base that is loyal – will win.

In 2012 the entrepreneur that believes in their ‘list’, their marketplace, believe what they offer is transformational, believe their product, without doubt, is something that can change lives – that entrepreneur wins it all.

“The true entrepreneur is willing,
eager to perceive change as a huge opportunity, rather than a threat or
deterrent. He/she must have built-in commitment, to constantly improve
their performance – on many different “fronts.”

“While the proprietor cowers from change, fears change, grovels and
steeps themselves deep in the status quo… the true entrepreneur is
ALWAYS excited, committed, continuously searching for new innovation.
Real entrepreneurs REACH for innovation. They work hard to discover, uncover,
define, refine and initiate innovation. “ Jay Abrahams