Wish you all could have made it.

On Friday, I gave it my all with a 2-hour presentation on finding a niche market, creating products, getting more done in less time, and on writing sales copy.

It was pretty intense. But a lot of fun.

As you know, I think being in a Mastermind group is the most important step in your path to success, so that’s why you hear about me going to so many of these meetings.

You get a chance to network with some real sharp people, and they’ll give you powerful feedback on what you need to do to improve your products and marketing. (Plus, they are always a ton of fun.)

I’ll be talking more about our mastermind later, but over the weekend I spent a lot of time thinking about some keys to success that almost no one talks about…and here they are:

1) Delayed gratification

People who want everything NOW always seem to struggle at building a successful business. After all, there’s pretty much no such thing as overnight success.

All of the big time successful guys and gals that I know, like Bedros Keuilian, Carrie Wilkerson, Mike Geary, Vince Del Monte, and Holly Rigsby, ALL put in their “time” and paid their dues to work hard to get where they are now.

So don’t “demand” miracles. Be patient and do your work everyday. Success will come.

2) People who make the most money are the most prolific – the ones who create the most products.

Last week I added product #123 to my Turbulence Training Clickbank account. Plus, I have 3 other fitness websites that sell product, as well internet business coaching and my Online Second Paycheck System.

This gives me almost 150 entry points into “my world”, where I can continue to build powerful relationships with my new clients and friends.

Contrast that to a business that revolves around just one product.

Unless you miraculously crack the ad words code, being a prolific product provider will CRUSH a single product business every time.

3) Successful people do a million things at once

Now don’t get me wrong, I want you to stay focused, but you need to be doing a million things to get people to know about your products, to promote your products, and to keep your clients happy.

Plus, you must always be thinking about the future and creating a long-term vision and moving towards it.

It may seem chaotic, but if you have systems in place, you can be involved in “millions of things” that will move you to your goal.

4) Saying, “May I interview you please”

Carrie Wilkerson taught me this one, and it’s a killer tip. One of the best ways to break into an “inner circle” is by offering help first, and that includes interviewing big name experts to promote them to your list first, before you go asking them for help.

This is a killer action tip you can put into practice today.

5) People are interested in people with passion – and the most successful people are extremely passionate about what they do.

As I taught on the weekend, when choosing your niche market, you need to focus on an area where you are passionate.

For example, I love helping and teaching people, and that’s why I’m writing this message on a Sunday afternoon while I have a couple hour break between social events. I love doing this.

And that’s how you need to feel about your business.

If you let your passion die, then you business will too.

Stay passionate!

PS – Passion + a mentor = success!

Never forget, the easiest way to succeed is to get help from someone who is already successful and has made mistakes so that you don’t have to make the same ones.

Get involved in a mastermind group or with a coach as soon as you can.

…sitting in the Vegas airport waiting for the overnight flight back to Toronto…but it was worth it to have a full Sunday at home rather than spending all day in the Vegas airport and on a plane.

I had a good time in Vegas – low key, with the exception of a wild and crazy handstand pushup party on Friday night. But that’s a long story for another time.

And I had some pretty cool conversations with other business owners, so here are a few things that I learned in Vegas that will help you…

1) You are going to annoy someone.

Always.

Guaranteed.

So get over it.

What am I talking about?

A lot of folks are scared to email. They are worried it might annoy someone and then people will unsubscribe from their email list.

Well, if you’re worried that you’re going to annoy someone, I have good news for you. You’re right.

Even Mother Theresa annoyed people. So I guarantee that you will too.

You can’t please everyone. So just give great value, make it fun to be a part of your world, and make a call to action so that you can sell your products.

Some people won’t like it, don’t worry, because 100x’s more people WILL LOVE the message you send out. And those are the folks you need to focus on.

Bottom line:
Don’t be afraid to contact your readers when you have great information to share.

2) Quit being boring. Start being entertaining, personable, like-able, and “easy to relate to”.

People don’t want to do business with someone who is perfect because it makes them feel like they can’t succeed.

So if you’re perfectly polished and trying to teach people how to accomplish what you’ve done, it’s going to intimidate them and they won’t even try.

My friends Bedros Keuilian and Steve Hochman are two of the funnest, easy-going, “like-able-est” guys I know and that’s one of the main reasons they are so successful selling their Fit Body Bootcamp Licenses.

I recommend taking a page out of their books. Here’s a personal example…I received a lot of positive feedback when people saw that I drive an old 1997 Nissan Maxima.

Why?

Because they are sick of being promised fancy cars and instant riches. If you give the impression that you are a “slick rick” and perfectly polished, then you’re going to repel clients rather than attract them.

Keep it real. And have some fun.

3) Crush It

I bought copies of Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book, “Crush It” for about 10 friends of mine and I’ve never received as much positive feedback about a book as I have with this one.

Get your copy NOW. And crush it, in your own way.

4) Go deeper

Take your passion and your niche and specialize in it first. I want you to completely Crush It as the expert to your chosen market before you try and become the guru to another market.

Make it known that you are a market leader.

Not sure how to position yourself as the market leader – even if you have tons of experience?

It’s easy.

Just create a 2010 “predictions” report for your industry.

For example, if you’re an expert on time management for moms, then write a report on the 7 hottest new trends and technologies that are going to help moms save time in 2010.

That will immediately position you as the go to person for your niche. Everyone else will be a follower. And people LOVE to read about predictions so your report should get passed around to a lot of new readers.

5) Take ACTION and follow instructions from your coach and mentors.

A novel concept, huh?

But surprise-surprise, the folks in the Vegas Mastermind who made the most progress since the last meeting were the ones that used the advice they were given last time.

Massive action = massive progress.

This is why you need to be in a Mastermind – because you get proven advice from mentors, coaches, and colleagues who have been there and done that – and you get to learn from all their mistakes and experiences so that you succeed faster.

If you think you can sit at home in isolation by yourself and somehow continue to grow your business every month, you are sadly mistaken – and not making as many sales as you could be.

So get out there and get involved. Get a coach. Talk to others. Make alliances. Meet affiliates. Connect on joint ventures.

Take action today!

This time I’m off to Vegas, last week it was San Antonio.

And I wonder if I’ll see anyone famous this week? Last week it was Chuck “The Iceman” Lidell in the San Antonio aiport (at 5:30am!), the week before it was one of the guys from Metallica at my hotel pool in South Beach.

Surely in Vegas I’ll come across someone who is famous…at the very least I’ll be hanging out with Vince Del Monte. He’s “almost famous”.

Ha! No doubt it will be good times this week. A mastermind group always is.

Some of the biggest benefits to a Mastermind group (which you can set up even in your hometown with other ambitious business owners) are…

1) They hold you accountable.

If you say you are going to do something, you sure as heck better come to the next meeting with it done. Otherwise your fellow group members are going to be disappointed. If you need some inspiration to get things done and follow through, a good mastermind group is the solution to your problem.

2) A mastermind group breeds healthy competition.

If you have any ego at all – and every successful business owner that I know wants to be the best – then you’ll get fired up when you hear about the grand plans of other members.

Of course, this is healthy competition. First of all, you’ll get fired up to help your fellow members, but their success will also motivate you to step up your game.

If you are feeling complacent, there’s nothing more powerful for getting you out of a rut than hanging around guys and gals who are kicking butt while you drag your butt.

3) A mastermind group will help you take your biz to next level.

If you isolate yourself from other business owners, I guarantee that you won’t be thinking BIG enough. You’ll be holding yourself back by staying in your comfort zone. That’s fine if you are happy with “getting by”, but if you really want to excel, you need to be around the best of the best – and that’s what a mastermind group provides.

Again, you can set one up in your hometown or even online with like-minded business owners. It doesn’t have to be the same industry.

In fact, sometimes it’s better to have outside viewpoints from folks in completely different businesses. And the great thing is that you can get powerful new ideas by transferring what’s working in other industries over to your business.

So those are the 3 main reasons I’m going to Vegas this weekend.

When I’m there, I’ll be getting some help from my group on how to get more continuity in my business and on creating 2 new products for my Turbulence Training biz.

Plus, I’ll be sharing killer tips on…

1) How to pick the right price for your product
2) The best upsell strategies
3) How to do more promos in your business
4) The truth about SEO (and the most important factor for traffic)
5) My 7 step launch sequence

(I shared a few of those last night on the Website Webinar for Online Second Paycheck clients.)

I’m stoked about Vegas this weekend, even though I don’t even care if I go to any restaurants or clubs. (In fact, I’m flying in Thursday night and flying out on Saturday night on the red-eye.)

It’s all about the Mastermind,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS