Gumbo: The Great ‘Separator’: Determination

[saad_sinpk]

In August of 2006 I got hit over the head by my biggest affiliate and had my commission cut by more than 60%. Yes, 60%. How would you react if your revenue was suddenly slashed by 60%? Ill be honest, I was stressed and felt fear not creep in, but crush my confidence. I made a call to a good friend and fellow affiliate who lives about 100 miles away from me. Ive known you for a long time, and nothing keeps you down. Youll figure it out. he said and then he hung up.
While his advice didnt sit well with me I knew he was right. It was one of those practice what you preach moments. I could have just sulked for a few days or weeks, but instead, I got to work. In just two days I had a new plan all set and by Monday it was in action. Things were better for my business despite the drop in commission.
How did I do it? I am determined.
Why should you ever allow one person or one entity such power over your business that their decision can take a large portion of your revenue? Easy. You dont.
What about what happened to me? While they may have made a decision which affected my current level of income, however, because of their decision, I came up with new ideas.
The key to bullet proofing your business is simple: making a plan and being determined to make the plan work. Before I lose you here and you think this is going to be another fluff article about some kid who received severe burns in a school house fire, was told he would never walk again and instead ran the fastest recorded mile – its not going to happen. Those are feel good stories and never help you in business.
This, on the contrary will help you.
Determination in business is doing the little things over and over and over again until you get them right. My Lather, Rinse, Repeat method. This is the foundation of SEO and Affiliate Marketing and one of the key reasons there are so many people making $80,000 a year or less in this business. They arent determined. They quit on campaigns early because of failure, and often they dont realize it.
A good friend of mine, who is, in my opinion, one of the best affiliate marketers, is a classic example of determination. Where did he get this skill from? Dental school of all places. He tells stories of spending all day making the perfect crown, taking it up to the instructor, and the instructor either dropping it on purpose or taking a knife and gouging the corner off, making it unusable. Oh, terribly sorry about that. It will now only take you half as long to do it again.
Some students got irritated, angry, discouraged and some even quit. To him, it was an opportunity to do it better. He has taken this attitude with SEO. If he has to redo a page ten times or a hundred times, it doesnt matter. He will redo it and redo it until he gets it right. People claim that that type of work hits the law of diminishing returns that he will never see enough fruit from all of that labor. Let me tell you this, Ive seen the commissions he makes. Thats a lot of fruit.
If you have been in this business for any amount of time, even a month, you already know it is all about change and what works well now, isnt what will work well tomorrow. If you can understand that instead of crying over how you just got screwed again, you are making plans to dominate once again; your business will be bullet proof. But the key is making plans – you have to know what to do next. The best marketers do this and it is the main reason they are still around despite all the change in the market.
I went to a conference in May of 2006, and the presenter Michael McGahee said:

Jerry, the reason they dont make a new plan is because they dont know what to do. If they did, they would be doing it and back in the saddle. Its not that they are unwilling. Its really the fact that they just simply dont know how.
So that transition from Im screwed to Im off and running with the next plan is wholly the fact that they dont have the precise knowledge to come up with a solution, much less a plan based on that knowledge.
The marketers that truly know the science of marketing (yes, I said science) cant be stopped. Sure you can break an arm or leg. You might even put a bullet right through their midsection. But if they really know the actual basics and the specific step-by-step approach to marketing, then being stopped is not an option.

So, what exactly did I do to be determined through this bomb that was dropped on me? Here is how I came up with my plan:

1. I gave myself time to feel frustrated. I took a drive, cranked up the stereo (the louder the better – Van Halen and Iron Maiden seem to work the best for me), and swore a lot.
2. I called my wife and a close friend and discussed my frustrations, and received advice.
3. I instructed my children that they could not mention the name of this certain company all weekend okay, maybe that was a little over the edge.
4. I took the night off and tried not to think of the situation.
5. I awoke early the next morning at 5am and went for a walk and cleared my head.
6. With my business journal in my hand, I reviewed the goals I had set for myself and my business.
7. I continued my walk and realized that this current change still allowed me to meet the goals I had set, but not in the current direction I was going.
8. I closed my business journal with an understanding that in order to continue to meet my goals, I had to come up with new ideas.
9. Throughout the weekend while doing various tasks or activities unrelated to work, I would have an idea about a new campaign or strategy. I would immediately write it down in my business journal.
10. Monday morning, I awoke early and went for a walk. I arrived on my porch just as the sun was rising. I opened my business journal and read the ideas that I had written down, and with a fresh outlook, I refined those ideas, and came up with three solid options.
11. I had to wait until noon Eastern to call my rep and discuss the options with him. We refined them further and I now have a plan that is far better than what I had before.

The key here is that I gave myself time to be upset. I am not one that believes that you must always be positive or the negativity will overrun you and destroy your business. Hey, were all human, right? Were not robots. Give yourself time to be upset – get it out of your system. Call someone you trust. Tell them what happened, you may even get some good advice or a different perspective that you didnt see.
Take some time off. Get your head clear. The worst decisions that you make with your business is when you are REACTIVE to a situation. The early morning hours are a great time to focus and get inspiration. It is quiet. There are very few, if any, distractions. Review your goals and if needs be, walk away from the merchant. But if it can be retooled, have the confidence that you can figure it out, and then give yourself time to figure it out. Know that you cant come up with a great solution in five minutes. Give yourself time. I like to give myself at least two days, and dont make the mistake of sitting in your office with a blank sheet of paper expecting some grand revelation to come your way. Get out, do something. My best ideas came to me when I was snow boarding. If you have a problem, your mind will continue to work on it. Just make sure your business journal is close by, so when an idea comes, you can write it down.
Bad things are going to happen – that is part of life. It is your reaction to those bad things that will measure your ability as a top marketer. The best marketers always find new paths to their goals when their current path is cut off.