By Joe Vitale
I admit it. I'm frustrated. I'm tired of getting emails from people who write, "I can't do what you did because __________________." Just fill in the blank with whatever excuse you can think of.
People say they can't write as many books as I have because they don't have the time, or they're too old, too young, too married, or too single.
People say they can't make their book a bestseller like I did because their book is different, or they're different, or the timing is different.
People say they can't ask celebrities for endorsements because they feel insignificant, or insulting, or imposing.
The list of excuses is endless.
Here are some actual ones I've received…
"You're more famous than me. I could never write people and ask for their help, as they wouldn't give me the time of day."
I started asking people for help, advice, input, suggestions and direction when I was a teenager. I have letters from FBI king J. Edgar Hoover, boxing legend Jack Dempsey and master magician John Mulholland. I was certainly unknown then. Yet people always helped me. I've managed to connect with Evel Kneivel, Donald Trump, Jimmy Carter, bestselling authors and more – and I did it before anyone knew my name. I simply asked for their help. They were kind and replied. Today I'm doing the same for anyone who writes to me who sounds sincere and respectful.
"You have a large network of people to ask for things."
Yes…I do now. But I didn't when I first started. I developed my network by building relationships. I reached out to people, helped them, they helped me, and trust was formed. Because I've nurtured my relationships online for almost 10 years now, a bond is set. When I announce that I want contributions for a new book, my network responds. When they want something, I respond. I was able to compile all the information for my most recent book, The Attractor Factor (Second Edition) all because I asked my network for help.
"You have a big mailing list so you can sell things faster."
I went online with no mailing list. None. I didn't even recognise the importance of having my own list until one day I offered my first e-class to my then tiny list and made $22,500 in one week. Then I woke up. I've been working on building my email list ever since. Anyone can do it. And while you're waiting to do it, you can always joint venture with people who already have mailing lists. How? Just ask. One day some person in Norway wrote to me. He wanted to know if I would help him sell his new software. I liked his program and agreed. He didn't have a list. I did. He had software. I liked it. I did a mailing and split the profits with him. It was a win-win situation.
"You are more talented as a copywriter so you can sell better than me."
I learned to be a copywriter by investing time, money and effort into studying the greats and getting out there and doing it. My first sales letters were garbage. I still write and rewrite to make my letters as hypnotic as I can. I wasn't born writing, reading, or even walking. I learned it all. Can't you?
"I don't have anything to offer free to get people to buy what I am selling."
There are a million things for free online. You can find thousands of free e-books online. Just grab a few and offer them as your incentives to get people to buy your product or service. Anyone can do this. Just look around online. The fruit is there for the picking. I've seen people take classic literature – now in the public domain and available as e-books – and offer them as incentives for prospects to buy their product. It works. How do you find them? Search.
"I can't teach an e-class like you because I have no credentials."
Your credentials are you. They are your life experiences more than anything else. Few today care about whether you have a degree or any other credential. They care if you can deliver on whatever you promise. My lifemate, Nerissa, is about to teach an online video editing class. Anything you can teach offline can be taught online. With video, audio, graphics, text and chat rooms, you can have a virtual classroom on anything you can imagine.
"I can't make money selling my stuff on the Internet."
Look around. The internet is so big and vast and even incomprehensible that truly anything can be sold online. I've seen people sell tumbleweeds and buggy whips, greeting cards and computer generated art. Anything sold offline can be sold online. Look at Ebay. People sell cars, used clothes, dirt and even snow there. I once sold an Elvis Mermaid through Ebay. (You can see a picture of it at www.mrfire.com.) Are there really any limits to what can be sold online?
"I missed the right time to sell my idea."
Really? Just look at the title of one of my books: There's A Customer Born Every Minute. A new crowd of prospects appears every single day. You can sell virtually anything at virtually any time if you think of what people want and cater to them. Sometimes you have to think of other uses for the same product, or other audiences than what you originally had in mind. But the best time to sell what you have is now. What are you waiting for?
"You live in America and I live in Mexico and selling doesn't work here."
Give me a break. Friends of mine always go to Mexico (and other countries said to be behind us) and they come home with truckloads of things they bought. Besides, the internet makes your location meaningless. Take your product and go online. Then you're not selling to your poor neighbours, but to the entire planet. Think big.
The list goes on and on.
To me, making excuses is the number one thing people do wrong -- online and off. While all of these excuses seem legitimate to the person saying them, they are virtually all hogwash.
Excuses are beliefs. If you buy into them, you're stuck. If you believe instead that there's always a way around whatever the excuse is, then you'll move forward. My philosophy is: there's always a way.
So let me try to help you here.
First, what are your excuses?
When I began this article by asking the question, "I can't do what you did because ________________________," what did you say? How did you complete the sentence? Those are some of your excuses.
Second, ask yourself if there's any way on earth to get around your excuses. In other words, are the excuses you stated real or imagined? Have you tried to get past any of them? Has anyone else, ever gotten past the same excuses?
Finally, what would you do if you had no excuses? Whatever your answer, get out there and just do it.
Leave your excuses behind and your prosperity will begin to come to you.
Leave your excuses behind and you can achieve success, too.
Leave your excuses behind and your life will begin to soar.
If you don't act now, why not? Whatever your answer, that's an excuse. Are you going to let it stop you?
Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of The Attractor Factor, Hypnotic Writing, Buying Trances, The Power of Outrageous Marketing, and star of The Secret. His website is www.mrfire.com
