Hope you are doing amazing! I’ve been down in Florida for a few days at the Fitness Info Summit. It was very cool to meet so many of you in person!

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.

I was really bored on Saturday night when I wrote this…

…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!

Just spent a great weekend in beautiful San Antonio, Texas with my friend Carrie “The Barefoot Executive” Wilkerson at her online internet marketing success seminar and it was powerful stuff.

In addition to Carrie, she had well-known and highly respected Internet Marketer David Frey as one of the speakers, and his presentation gave me pages of ideas that I can’t wait to implement.

Carrie also let me speak for an hour on the Basics of Building a Better Website Business on Saturday afternoon.

I ended up finishing my session early and opened it up for Q’n'A to the crowd.

One woman asked me about what she should do if she didn’t have any bonuses to add to her incredible offer.

Instinctively I replied, “I would just get them done.” (What I should have said was, “I would have already had them done.”)

The crowd laughed and I apologized to make sure I didn’t offend her, but my point was that she needed to stop thinking so much and get to work on finishing her project.

Overall, one of the biggest mistakes beginners make is that they procrastinate. Sometimes folks like to lay the blame on “ADD” but I call “baloney” on that.

I’ve even used “ADD” as an excuse before, but to be honest, it was only a lame justification for being lazy and undisciplined.

“Work” isn’t always fun, even if you are working in your area of your life’s greatest passion.

There will be days when you need to give up the ADD excuse, force yourself to keep your butt on your chair and TAKE ACTION with ruthless implementation.

So that’s tip #1.

Here are 4 more tips – some that you might not want to hear – that will help you succeed online.

#2 – Have 100% clarity in business model (know what you will NOT do)

David Frey gave this great tip during his excellent presentation, and it sums up another beginner mistake.

Too many folks don’t know what they want their business to look like, and as a result they get pulled in many directions (often chasing the latest “bright shiny object” that promises them instant riches).

But if you have a clear, long-term vision for your business, it will help you say NO to the wrong projects and keep you focused on the right projects. Powerful, but simple stuff.

#3 – The more products you create the more money you will make.

Another one of my friends said the same thing at a Mastermind meeting last month, and I agree. That’s just one of the reasons I continue to create a new Turbulence Training program each month, plus at least one major new program each year.

Product creation is simple. From audio to video to leveraging your past work, you can put together a huge catalog of resources to help your clients.

And in most cases, you still won’t be able to create enough products to satisfy your top clients.

#4 – Get your first assistant ASAP!

David Frey said getting an assistant was one of the biggest breakthroughs in his business. Again, simple, but powerful.

Like me, David isn’t too quick to part with his money, but like David, I found business only goes up when you delegate the lower skill tasks to others so that you have more time to focus on your strengths – and that’s the only way to grow your business.

#5 – Go to seminars.

David said one of his other biggest regrets was not attending more seminars when he was just starting out.

Both David and I are not naturals at “in-person networking” but we both now realize the immense value of attending seminars, not only for the content, but probably MORE for the contacts you’ll make.

See you at a seminar soon,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS – One other thing David wished he did earlier…

…was join a Mastermind group.

I’ll be back later this week with at least 5, if not 10 of the amazing reasons you should be in a Mastermind group.

Again, powerful, yet simple stuff that helps you succeed.

Just finishing up my last day here in Brussels. About to head out
for a famous Belgian Waffle and then back to Paris.

One more day there and then home to Toronto on Wednesday. Looking
forward to it.

But while I was sitting on the train from Amsterdam to Brussels
yesterday, I started thinking about my business plan for when I get
back to Canada…

I made a list of over 21 big things to do, but here are 3 that you
can get started with right now…because they are free and easy to
work on.

#1 – Do more video.

Create your own TV show. As Andrew Lock, a big time Internet
Marketer said to me in May at a Mastermind meeting, doing an online
TV show was the best thing he has ever done for his business.

That means going beyond Youtube (even though that is working better
and better for me everyday).

You become an even more credible expert if you start building your
own online TV show, when compared to just having a Youtube channel.

More to come on this topic…video is going to be hotter than any
other format online in the next year. So make sure you are getting
comfortable in front of the camera.

#2 – The list matters more than the copy!

Most folks get really hung up on writing ad copy for their website,
but it shouldn’t be so stressful.

Instead, you should be spending more time making sure you are getting
in front of the right audience.

The right audience plus mediocre copy will equal good sales…

BUT

The wrong audience with amazing copy will equal poor sales.

So make sure you are networking and building partnerships and getting
in front of the right people.

And remember – you don’t have to start with a massive launch…just
get the ball rolling with a few good partners and take those results
to the “big guys” to prove that you have a winner.

#3 – Give more free content.

I’ll be giving away more info, products, videos, workouts, etc.,
when I get back, and making sure it is some of my best content.

The more you give away, the greater the level of trust you build up
with your readers.

So whether its more free interviews I’ll be giving away to my
bootcamp blog readers or more video workouts for all TT users, I’m
just going to keep giving away content.

After all, since we’re experts, we all have a ton of content that we
can give away and still have lots left to make into products.

So keep giving. It’s a win-win situation.

Alright off for Waffle time,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS