English: A photo of a cup of coffee. Esperanto: Taso de kafo. Français : Photo d’une tasse de caffé Español: Taza de café (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Have you seen the videos for the “Coffee Shop Millionaire”? They are hard to miss. They are everywhere. In 2011, I signed up for this program. Here’s what it really is.
They claim you don’t need your own website. Wrong. You not only need one, you need several. They gladly will sell you a domain and have hosting. Your site will be complete gibberish, but the search engines will like it. It is all geared to drive traffic. Forget having good keywords as those are too expensive. You will get some crappy key words. Such goes life.
Next you will need product to sell. Money of your money goes out the window. You will not get traffic, nor will you get sales. The “Coffee Shop Millionaire” system is about separating you from your money.
Sure. The videos show numbers going into ClickBank accounts. Yes, that money is real, but it is not typical nor is it what you can do. This is Anthony’s account. After all, he made the system and sells the system. You don’t have the access.
The member’s area is pathetic. No training. No nothing. What a joke.
Forget about making money online with this system. It isn’t possible. I was able to get some money back, but not much. The “Coffee Shop Millionaire” is 100% scam. No checks. No autopilot money. No nothing. It does not make money. Period.
Back in my Pro U days, Gregg Davison was very keen of stating we needed to find our niche. This was more than finding an opening in a market. Your niche is defined by who you are and how you will express your voice. You must fit well into your niche as you need to own it fully. Choose a niche that doesn’t fit you and your customers will notice.
The idea of a niche was also repeated in training by Michael Force and Andrew Cass. It was a shared and correct idea. It again came to the foreground in workshops lead by Justin Woolf and Aaron Rashkin. Find your niche. Find your niche. Find your niche. Ok, I get it.
Recently I decided to return to trading. I had success before and the market seemed to have at least some direction. It was time to do homework and paper trade to understand trends and cycles. I had mostly failure, but this was the beginning. Time to get some guidance.
The other day I called Michael Parness to seek his knowledge. Previously I had been a member of the Orange belt options service and I was one of the first to sign up for the website www.parnesseducation.com. We talked for about half an hour and near the end I heard a familiar phrase, “You need to find your niche.” Again?
One may wonder why one would need a niche for trading stocks. It is quite simple. Your niche is your methods: the way you trade, why you trade, how you do plays and when you get out. It is about what you do in your trades. It is about you.
Your niche. What is it? Learn to find it. It is your voice. It is who you are. It is the way to your future.
Rescue for Your Business (Photo credit: Zavarykin Sergey)
I first met Gregg Davison over the phone. He was living in the Cayman Islands and loving life. He was talking to me about CarbonCopy Pro, a business opportunity I had heard about during a commercial break on the Rush Limbaugh radio show. I was intrigued. I had to find out more. I went to the website and eventually signed up at the Gold Level.
The calls with Gregg happened each week. I was given some assignments and things to do. I went through the back office. I went through the tutorials. The online marketing education CarbonCopy Pro has is massive. Almost too much to absorb. Gregg said to register a domain with your name in it. I chose several. Eventually I had getrichwithbryon and both the .net and .com versions of bryonlape. The sites were out there, leads came in.
I finally met Gregg Davison face to face in Phoenix, Arizona at the Master Marketing Event. He was energetic. He showed interest in people. He gave them guidance and leadership. That weekend was phenomenal. How exciting to be in business.
A couple of months later, Gregg and his business partners Andrew Cass and Michael Force held a weekend training retreat in Miami. It is amazing how inexpensive hotels can be in Miami, Florida in July when few people are there. The training was intense and close up. On Monday, several of us on Gregg’s team were in his room for “A Day In The Office With Gregg Davison”. It was worth the extra time and money. All of us stayed as long as we could and eventually made our way toward our respective homes.
That was mid 2011.
A few months later, Gregg stopped being on the calls. He stopped holding team training sessions on Saturdays. A bit before he stopped talking about his lovely wife Christina. Something was up. No one knew what. Then, he was gone.
Peter Hobler, his business manager stopped hearing from him. The marketing partners Andrew and Michael didn’t hear from him either. Neither Jay Kubassek nor Justin Woolf knew anything about what was going on. Gregg Davison seemed to have disappeared.
Those of us on Gregg’s team were first moved under Micheal Force. Several months later, as the marketing leaders started to leave Pro U (CarbonCopy Pro’s new name), the team was moved again to be under Justin Woolf. Still no word from Gregg.
Gregg’s Facebook page became stale. A picture of him holding his nephew was posted by his sister. No status changes. No location changes. Nothing.
One day Justin saw Gregg come on-line and was able to chat with him a bit. Gregg was back to being in his mother’s basement. Back in England. Back to where it started. But what was Gregg doing? No one seems to know.
Gregg Davison is still out there. He’s voice is no doubt being heard by someone. He is not part of Empower Network. He is not part of Pro U. He is not part of RemarkaMobile.
As I am not busy enough, I blog in several spots. On my WordPress blog, I posted a story about a friend of mine and the tactics she was thinking of employing to get leads for her business. I helped her see what manner of leads she would most likely get and showed her a different path. Time will tell if she will stick to it.
Marketing is an art. Marketing is a science. Many people complain about too many advertisements here and there. Fact is, the ads are there because they are effective. Marketers don’t have endless barrels of money. They must get results or they will try something else. Often times, a well researched campaign will fall flat while something wild and spontaneous will have roaring success. Each effort is measured against the business it brings in. Much returned, campaign continues. Nothing returned, campaign is stopped.
Nearly two years ago I started down a new path with Carbon Copy Pro. Gregg Davison was my sponsor and a whole new world was opened to me. I have never been the same. I have stopped accepting mediocrity and strive to do better. When I find myself in ruts, I really get annoyed and look for ways out.
I also have little patience for those who choose, no want, to stay in their ruts. Those who are able bodied and have their hands out annoy me the most. America is not there to guarantee you a color television and a cell phone. It isn’t there to guarantee you a job. It is there to guarantee your Liberty. Take it and live free.
Yeah, so what? What about anal sex?
Though some may have been turned off by the terms so far, living in Liberty has much in common with anal sex. Very few practice it and the few who do feel liberated. They more one lives in Liberty, the more one wants. Same as anal sex. Many are scared by Liberty and feel it unnecessary in a country whose government is providing everything. After all, there are other less painful sexual practices, anal isn’t needed.
Yes, the analogy does start to break down. But living in Liberty is about breaking down constraints. Breaking down walls. Striving in your own business is about finding your way in Liberty. Perhaps my friend was right, it is also about enjoying anal sex.
What a week this has been! More people registered with the blog this past week than ever
Pedaling Through the Past (Photo credit: brizzle born and bred)
before. It would seem people are finding their way here and it is so much fun! Welcome to all the new people!
When I started this blog, the whole intent was to publish who I am so people could know and understand my story. This was going to be a means to making money. Marketing after all, is all about making relationships. How little did I know.
The journey over the last year plus has been an incredible one. I’ve started and closed an LLC. I’ve joined other programs. I’ve made many videos. I’ve learned much.
I’ve learned SEO is more an art than science. I’ve learned Premier Mentoring is a total scam. I’ve learned Marketing and getting results is hard. I’ve learned I love it all.
Normally, the postings on this blog have no I statements. Today this is being broken to show that behind this blog is a real person. A person with dreams and ideas and goals and wants and needs. A person with flesh and blood and a heartbeat. That is what makes this blog personal. That is the power.
Upcoming will be discussions on mobile marketing and getting your website ready for the mobile wave. Expecting users to pinch and expand to view your website is the past. More forward or get left behind.
Yes, it is true. There are some, ok not some, nearly many, who say I have a obsession with
Cover of Shania Twain
Shania Twain. Not in that stalker kind of way, in that fan and “OMG! She is so lovely” manner. Yes, it may be true. And yes, my beautiful too.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I would be reviewing Shania Twain’s song “Today is your day”. This came to me when I was listening to the song. No, truly listening to the song. I realized that it is far more than a feel good song and actually contains the “secret” to success. Holy cow! It was quite the strike of enlightenment. This song encapsulates the way, the path, the steps to success! Yes! I have to blog about it.
That articlehas finally been written. I have no way of knowing if Eileen, I mean Shania, will ever read it. I absolutely love how this song brings the path to song. This is why Shania keeps back up when knocked down. Her parents where killed at the very start of her career journey. At its height, she went through a very painful divorce. Still, she went on. She saw her younger siblings to adulthood. She sees her career now returning. She knows she will win. She knows she has to begin.
There is no telling how a week can go by. Stop wasting time. Start on your path to business success. You deserve to have your desires. IF you have the will to begin. Move.
A 1914 half-sovereign minted in Sydney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Passion. It keeps you on course. It keeps you moving. It brings action and motivation.
When the going gets tough, passion will keep the you going. Where is it that you are going? What is it you want to do? What does done mean?
Enter clarity.
Clarity is how your target is defined. It allows you to know what you seek, what it feels like, how it smells, how it tastes. Clarity defines what you want.
Knowing what you want in life to such a high level is paramount for success, no matter how you choose to define it. Success has to be personally defined. It cannot be defined by someone else. Success is your goals, your dreams, your aspirations. Know what they are. See them. Feel them. Get very, very clear on them.
Clarity cuts through the fog. It leads to understanding. It guides through the rain. Clarity allows action to be well directed. It pushes passion through all obstacles. While passion is the fuel that drives your engine to success, clarity keeps everything running.
Get crystal clear on your goals. See each step. Fully define what you want. Suppose you want a new car. What model? What color? What options? How much work will you need to do to achieve it? How many calls? How many sales? That is clarity. It is more than just the end goal, it is all the steps in between.
Want to sing at the Apollo theater in Harlem? Don’t settle for performing at the local dinner club. See that goal. See the work. Do the work.
That is what clarity does. It pushes aside all the “can’ts” and “wont’s”. Get clear. See your path. Now go.
Reaching success is not a quick trip. It takes dedication and determination. There are pitfalls and problems. There are distractions and detours. The path is not straight. It weaves and forks, zigs and zags. It requires a plan.
From time to time, your determination and dedication will be tested. Obstacles will arise that will seem insurmountable. They will require rethinking and redirection. Having a mentor will greatly help your efforts. The right coaching will teach you need techniques, give you new directions.
Going the distance takes perseverance. Going in the distance in the wrong direction will only result in wasted effort, leading to frustration and emptiness. Get the mentor you need. Get the training you need. Go the distance to Success.
Integrity: being complete; undivided; focused; true; unimpaired.
Whatever the synonym, integrity is at the center of SMILE. It is at the center of everything done at 5 Point Management. It is at the center to keep us balanced. It is the center of who we are.
Too many people use Integrity as a buzzword. It gets banded about as if it were a shuttlecock in a badminton game on a well groomed lawn. Overused, overstated and under performing. That is how integrity gets pushed today.
Integrity is too key to allow such trivialities. One has to have integrity to last, to be seen as honest and to be a lasting leader. Politicians claim to have it, then display they do not. Scoundrels posing as businessmen claim it, then use practices that are immoral.
Integrity is not something faked. It must be a part of who one is. Must be in the heart. Must be in the mind. It must be the center of everything.
In the word SMILE, the letter I balances the other four. It gives symmetry to the folding point. It is the center. Integrity was chosen for the I in SMILE to remind us, to balance us, to focus us. Integrity is who we are. We are it.
It is seen quite often. Someone starts a new on-line business. They are enthusiastic. They are ready to go. Ready to rock. They place ads everywhere. They send e-mails to every list they can find. All of them tout this brand new thing-a-majig. All fail.
Why?
It is the classic misunderstanding of what kind of business they are in. They believe they are in an Internet business. They believe they are in a Marketing business. They believe they are in everything but what they are.
Imagine you have applied to manage a new restaurant opening down the street. It doesn’t mater what kind of restaurant it is. If it help you, suppose it is a McDonald’s. The owner asks you about your experience. They ask what you like about their company. They are quite impressed. They have one more question, “As the manager of this restaurant, what kind of business are you in?” You answer, “the restaurant business.” The owner looks sad. They sigh, shake your hand and thank you for your time.
You leave knowing you did not get the job. You cannot understand why.
Your Actual Business
It doesn’t matter if you are a manager of a restaurant or if you started the latest and smoking hot Internet business. All of these are in the same business.
“Wait!” you exclaim. “They sell food and I see widgets. They are not the same business.”
Yes they are. You are concentrating on the what and not the why. You are not looking at what the course business is. Why you are in business. Why you believe you will be successful. Why is the core, the heart, the very center of your business.
All of these business are in the People business. As a manager, you are mostly in the business of empowering and leading your workers. They in turn are your direct link to the customer. They are the face and the attitude of your business.
As an owner of an Internet business, you are all of those. You are the manager. You are the face. You are the heart. You are your brand. What you are selling is not your brand. What you are selling is not your business. You are your business. And you are in the People Business. Say hello.
