Creating an Entrepreneurial Mindset
Oct 22
While the nuts and bolts of niche marketing are important there is another key factor to your success. YOU. How you think, what you feel, and how you act on those thoughts and feelings can sometimes be more influential in your success than whether you know how to create a lens in “just the right” way.
Everyone wants to work from home.
Working from home can be a dream for many people, being able to tell your boss to take a hike, the freedom of a 30 second commute, the ability to structure your time any way you want to, it can be wonderful. However, there is a lot of responsibility that comes along with working from home.
You no longer have a boss. You are the boss. You have to be able to be dedicated, and focused ~ because no one is standing over your shoulder making sure you’re doing your work. In the end, if you don’t do what needs to be done it only affects you and your family.
You no longer have someone telling you what to do next. While this can seem like great freedome (and believe me, it can be), it can almost be crippling when you don’t know exactly what you’re doing and don’t have any one leading the way.
You no longer have a check coming to you the second Tues of the month for THIS amount. This can be one of the scariest aspects of walking away from a job. The not knowing, from where and when you’re going to get paid. I totally understand this. You have bills to pay, and there ain’t no money coming in. The problem with the anxiety that comes with this, is the more anxious you feel about not having money the harder it’s going to be to make money. The harder you push, the more difficult it’s going to be.
It’s a very difficult thing to overcome, this anxiety, and it helps when you start seeing the money trickle in. The key to managing this anxiety ~ for me anyway, was doing something that I really enjoyed. If I could stay in a place of really enjoying what I was doing, and KNOWING it was going to work ~ because if it’s worked for one person ~ it can work for me (and I’d seen it work for other people). The feeling of enjoying the freedom, enjoying doing what I was doing left enough of a space in the anxiety for the money to come through.
This sounds very airy fairy I’m sure ~ but it is scientific fact. That which you focus on expands. So if you are focusing on not having any money ~ you will continue to not have any money. If you focus on enjoying yourself, enjoying your freedom, more things will come to you that will allow you to enjoy those things even further.
Recreating Your Mind Into an Entrepreneurial Mind
When you are an employee your best skills can be learning how to listen and following directions. When you’re an entrepreneur, those are good skills, but there’s no one to listen to while you’re sitting at home alone in front of your computer, and no one giving directions but YOU, so you have to learn to think like a leader, you’ve got to become the boss.
Ask Questions
Being able to ask questions when you run across a stumbling block is KEY when you are an entrepreneur. It can be hard in the internet marketing world to find anyone that will answer your questions, but lucky for you, you found me. Ask your questions here, in the comments section ~ I will answer them.
Search for the Answers
Here’s the thing though ~ while it’s important to ask questions, it’s almost MORE important to be willing to search for the answer instead of waiting for people to give it to you. You’re the boss now remember? You’ve got to get out there and FIND The answers you need so you can keep moving forward.
I know that can be hard for people who are new to the internet, so here’s a few of my very favorite ways to search down the answers I need. (and I use these almost every day)
1. GOOGLE.
Yep, me and Google and like BFFs. I go to Google every day looking for some kind of information or another. I go to the search box and I put in exactly what it is I want to know. Yesterday I was looking for a list of web 2.0 sites for a blog post I’m working on. So I went to Google and entered ~ list of web 2.0 sites where I can add content.
Yeah ~ that’s what I wanted, and holy wow, Google gave me just what I was looking for. When I wanted to find some free ad blogs ~ I went to Google and searched “free ad blogs on wordpress” Low and behold there were quite a few.
The thing about Google is you really have to ask for exactly what you want, and you have to be willing to look through the first page and see what it found. It does work, so try it out.
2. Blogs
I subscribe to quite a few blog RSS feeds. Blogs are a great place to find information you’re looking for. They almost always have a search box so I can usually find what I need pretty quickly. WordPress search boxes rock my world. WordPress does such a great job of pulling keywords from so many places that no matter what you put in the search box you will get an answer that will help you if it’s on the site somewhere.
**I have a search box on this blog ~ and it is a great way to find answers to specific questions ~ just put the basic question in there and see what comes up. It’s much faster than waiting for me to answer sometimes.
3. Comments
Sometimes on blogs the BEST information is in the comment section. I find that the conversation that happens, the questions that get answered in the comments section can be more helpful than the post itself. This is definitely the case on this blog ~ when it comes to specific questions about something. Make sure you read the comments if you have questions ~ your question has probably been asked and answered, again saving you time waiting for an answer.
4. Forums
Now I hesitate to put this one in here, because forums can be a HUGE time suck. But if you use them to find information and not to just idly waste your day they can be a vast source of information. Again, most forums have a search feature. You can usually search by thread or post ~ I like to search by post that way I go right to where they are talking about what I want to know. I can navigate from there. The warrior forum is a wealth of information, but again, don’t go just to look around ~ if you have to go, go looking for a specific question you need answered. Chilling on forums is NOT a money making activity ~ unless you are on a niche forum and participating with a link to a lens/site in your signature.
Create a Plan and Stick to It.
Part of being an entrepreneur is figuring out what needs to be done and doing it ~ since you no longer have a boss directing you, you better have some directions for yourself. Yesterday I read this fantastic post by Jimmy Brown. If you aren’t familiar with him, Jimmy is a very successful internet marketer, who has been around for over 10 years. He works a little bit different strategy than I do, but he is very knowledgeable and very trustworthy. I recommend you take a few minutes and read the post. 3 Keys to Kick Start Your Business in the Next 24 Hours. (if it’s not still on the front page, use the search box to find it;)
When you’re finished take some time to reflect on what he says, and where you are in your business with those three keys. Maybe today is the day to decide, that this is a business, it’s YOUR business, and create a plan for yourself, and stick to it.
If you’re ready to make that decision today ~ I’d sure love to hear it. Let me know in the comments what you’ve decided for you and your business.
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I worked really hard on a blog for over 6 months and mainly promoted Clickbank products. I made probably 3 sales. I stopped posting content because frankly I wasn’t seeing any return for all the time I put into it.
Now I have 30 Christmas cash lenses up, working toward 50.
I have a question– I have about 25 subscribers to the blog I mentioned above. Wondering if I should cancel my autoresponder? The bills add up.
Or is there some way to integrate the autoresponder into my blogger blog that I set up for the lenses?
Lisa @ Kiss McFarlane Toys´s last blog ..Kiss McFarlane Toys updated Thu Aug 12 2010 11-38 am CDT
You can add the code from an autoresponder to blogger, just add a text gadget and add the opt in box code there.
Just a matter of what the topic is for your blogger blog and whether it’s going to attract people to sign up.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Oh wow just love the straight talking Jackie and Jimmy what a team. I got so much from this – novacaine is my new mantra!!
Hi Jackie,
I enjoy your blog because you give straightforward advice. Just like in this post because ‘working from home’ sounds like it’d be a great thing, but there’s a lot more to it. Your post outlines the pros and cons, and gives great advice.
I make a list every week, so I have a plan of work. Recently, I’ve been reducing my anxiety about ‘making it work’ and earning an income, which has tremendously helped me to work focus on my plan. I also find work comes easier, and I don’t have that push you mentioned in trying to make things happen. They do…once the anxiety is gone.
Jennifer
JenniferAkers@articlemarketing´s last blog ..Motivational Radio’s Mission- To Motivate- Inspire- and Educate
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Jackie, Thanks for the great post. I think mindset has been my worst enemy when it comes to moving forward with my business. I have been reading your blog for a while and have really learned a lot. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Gail
Gail@Kitchen Remodel Ideas´s last blog ..header-03
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I have been “self-employed” for the last 5 years. If I could give someone one post that clearly defines what it takes to be successful, your’s is the post I would send them too. It clearly shows the myths and pitfalls of working for yourself. It really explains well the quote “If you fail to plan; then you plan to fail”.
Collette McKee
The Mortgage Specialist
Robert!!
Congrats on taking action ~ it really is the easiest way to put the pieces together.
Not sure what you mean by amazon feed. I don’t use a feed from amazon on my lenses and I haven’t mentioned in any of the tutorials to do that. Are you confusing that with another feed?
You also can’t put amazon videos on your lens.
You have to grab them from youtube or somewhere like that. It would be great if you could use the videos on amazon ~ but I have not found a way to make it work.
Jackie
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Along those lines, yay, my first lens! I haven’t got everything figured out yet, Jackie, but I decided getting one lens up and running was better than getting it perfect. And Squidoo is so good about letting you edit! I do have an associate’s account with Amazon, so I was able to use my associate links, but I must be doing something wron with the Amazon feed. Oh, well, I will keep learning! I am not going into this as an overnight project, so the learning curve is actually a pleasure. I have a day job and will keep it until I’ve progressed to the point where it just makes sense to make the switch to full time marketing. Thank God I have that luxury! Anyway, this is a fun roller-coaster. Now if I can just figure out how to put Amazon’s video on my lens!!
Thank you sincerely for the great advice.
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Good post Jackie!!
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very cool ~ it was a good call, and at some point you’ll want to take your business to sites you own. Brian’s teaching the same thing as I do on squidoo on his own sites ~ so it’s definitely good stuff.
We’ll be moving on to some of that after Christmas. 
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Hi Jackie!
James Jones and Brian Johnson are repeating the 2 hour webinar you listened to about niche profits. Here’s the link if anyone wants to sign up – http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=Cnk9l&m=1dXuQxwsMCqRAb&b=K354Ww2vCWlZvABRVnsW1g
The email I received said that Brian is going to show us how he’s going to use the same techniques he used to kick it with the Halloween costumes to target the Christmas market. Should be good! =)
Hi Jackie,
This is my first visit to you blog and I got lots of inspiration from this post. I have been into affiliate & adsense business for quite long but with a little success. Few months I started providing content for various blogs and have been successful to certain extent.
However, I want to create a professional blog. But I am confused about deciding the niche for my blog. I am thinking about creating a blog on technology, travel or mobile phones. I want your advise on this as I want to make my online business a great success.
I am from India but right now working in Saudi Arabia in Gulf. I really hate working for someone. But I need to save some money to make my business a full time. I want to return back to my home country soon. I really miss my family & friends.
It is very nice to have a helper like you.
Thanks a lot.
Interesting site. Thanks for the link.
Yeah, that’s definitely one way to do it. You can also do a very small site based on 1 keyword. this is the guy’s site from the webinar. Take a look at his site and it will give you an idea of how the 1 kw site works. Queen of hearts costume ~ this site only has 3 pages.
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How do you construct your niche sites? I’ve been creating a site around a relatively generic keyword – like “best laptop deals”(only an example) – then using the individual posts to rank for the less competitive keywords.
Do I even have the right idea?
You do it the exact same way as you do with the lenses. Pick non competitive keywords and then build links. You can use everything you’ve learned here and apply it to your niche sites.
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Oh, I’ll definitely stay tuned!
Your blog is fantastic! I’ve learned more here in the past 2 weeks than I have in the last 6 months!
I’ve also been building niche wordpress sites – and would love to know how to drive more traffic to them. I’m starting to see some sales – but nothing substantial or regular.
It was a free webinar hosted by the James who created micro niche finder. I’m not sure if he’s going to have replay or not, I’ll let you know if I get a link. He had a guy who is building niche sites based on product keywords. It was really good and I was pretty excited to see we are doing everything he’s doing but on Squidoo. I’ve been doing niche wordpress sites for a while, but I think I’ll start doing blog posts about them after Christmas. So if you’re ready to branch out stay tuned!!
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Hi Jackie!
I’d be interested to know more about the 2 hour webinar you listened to. Can you provide a link, or is it a available for sale somewhere?
You’re quite welcome Lisa. Same thing with CB products for me. There’s something so much easier in my mind about the direct connection between the product keyword and the product than trying to do it with cb, and the competition is so much lower it makes it a no brainer for me.
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Jackie,
Thanks for all the help. I will definitely do what you suggested. Right now i am focusing on physical products only, as I have not had much luck with clickbank products. They may just not be for me. Although, I have learned how to narrow down by doing specific products, so I may try clickbank with OWM later on after Christmas.
Thanks So Much, I do owe all my successes in the past two weeks to you! By focusing and having Squidoo Christmas Cash, I know my life is going to be much different this tie next year. I am well on my way. I cannot thank you enough.
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awww Lisa, You’re a woman after my own heart. My little heart goes pitter pat when I see lists like this one.
YAY for you!!
The only thing I would tweak is to put your RSS submissions more toward the beginning of the week, let them do their thing while you’re working on other stuff.
Questions: are you doing OWM? are you doing product type keywords?
There has been a TON of “Universal winks” for me in the last couple weeks that products are the way to go. I just listened to a 2 hour webinar yesterday (unheard of in this house lol) about this guy using product related keyword to build a huge business for himself. He targeted simple halloween topics like fairy costume and is making a KILLING. This can be done for specific holiday items, but it can also be done for items like we’re doing with SCC that are used all year round.
I only ask because if you are doing products ~ whether related or not, you could start a blog that relates to “getting a deal” and then you can use 1 blog for all your lenses and not have to worry about starting new ones all the time, and also you would be building a nice piece of real estate with that blog. As it gets older and gains some authority you’re links from it will be even more powerful.
Remember you can write a longer post on your blog about the product and use the kw from all 5 lenses and link to them all in the one post.
Time leverage.
Sorry I just reread and you did say product keywords ~ then I would definitely go with a “deal” type blog ~ that way you can really streamline the process.
That will free up some time on both Monday and Thurs. You may find that’s a lot for Monday. 
Awesome!! Test it out, see how it works, tweak the parts that are “not quite right” and keep moving forward!!
Love to see you taking action.
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Hi Jackie,
As always, wonderful post. I have actually been working on this from reading your past post about staying focused and I now have a daily plan of task to accomplish every day. I have a 9, 4 and 2 year old – so this is going to be difficult. I am laid off so with the help of my wonderful husband and my mom, I should be able to stay on track and see some great income by Christmas. I just finished this daily plan last night, so I am going to start today!
I have about 15 lenses right now and I was finding it hard to track where I was and not very many of them are showing up in Google so hopefully this will ensure I am doing everything I need to.
I am not going to stress about not completing EVERY task as there is alot for me to finish. I have read of people doing a lens in 20 minutes! I am just not that fast yet.
So, here are what my days look like. I am pretty proud of my plan and this is a full time job for me. As I get quicker at stuff I will add to and adjust my daily schedule.
Hope you don’t mind me sharing, this is going to be long.
Monday – Find 4 or 5 similiar product keywords and build 5 lenses. Make one blog for all related lensnes. Do Mondays social bookmarking folder (Got this here on blog from Jackie)
Tuesday- Do Tuesdays Social Bookmarking folder and do 4-5 free ad blogs.
Wednesday- Do Wednesdays Social Bookmarking folder and at least 2 articles one for Ezine and one for another directory.
Thursday-Do Thursdays Social bookmarking folder. Also Submit RSS Feeds and lensmaster feeds.
Friday-Refresh lenses and ping, make another blog post. If older lenses from prior weeks not ranking build backlinks using methods from the Mind Map (also found here on jackies blog)
I will let you know how it goes this coming week and see if I need to tweak anything or change around some days.
If I do not have a step by step plan like this, I will not stay focused. I must have a list. It is the same way with my life in general. I write down everything I need to accomplish or remember!
Sorry so long, thanks.
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Read Jimmy Brown post just a few minutes ago. Youe and he are right on the mark. You must treat IM marketing just like your regular job as far as having a daily plan. You make this seem so much more doable.
Believe me, I have super unfocused days even still.
I just find it’s easier to get back on track quicker these days. 
I found the same thing at WA ~ it was the main reason I decided to let it go.
Good luck on the blog!
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I do love your mindset. Everything you say is true. I hope one day I’m as focused as you. I’m a member of WA and you’re right about forums sucking up your time. I find myself anwering other people’s questions or responding rather than working on my mindset. I just can’t seem to find it.
I have put together my info for my Christmas blogger blog. Hopefully that will get me started. I’ve found a few great products on Amazon and now need to make sure I choose just the right keywords.
Thanks, Angie
Hi Jackie
Distractions with internet marketing is the biggest problem I have. Like you said forums etc can be a big time waster when you could be doing more productive things like lenses, blogs and article writing.
One thing I took massive action with this year was hitting the unsubscribe button on sooooo many email lists I was on. They all seemed to be promoting the same “latest and greatest” products that you just have to have to be successful.
It was the best thing I ever did. I now only receive emails from people who know what they are talking about, like you, and are the real deal with helping people get ahead.
Thank you for all your great posts and advice and may you have much success with your business ventures.
Jade
I’m really glad I could help Ken, sorry about your job, but I’m really excited for you to have your own business.
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Hi Jackie
I received a lay off notice last week from my job and I plan on making IM my new job. The post you have been writing the last few weeks is right in line with helping me get focused and doing the things I need to do to be successful.
Knowing someone is there to help if needed is very comforting. You have helped me get in the right frame of mind for my new job. Thank you.
Ken
Hey Jackie,
I’ve been trying to earn a full time income with this internet marketing business for over 2 years now. It has been difficult to stick with it sometimes as there have been a few occasions when I’v wanted to quit.
I’m still at it though because each sale that comes through is a reminder that it can happen. And the information I’m learning from you is helping me to get better and better so thank you.
This is a great post and excellent reminder. It may not be the typical post you’ve been making but necessary none-the-less.
Keep up the great work. It IS making a difference.
Jolene
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@Chad ~ you’re right, every day is not going to be cherries, but if you focus on what you don’t have you’re going to end up with more of that. Even if in the middle of the bad days you can be grateful for the things you DO have, it will help move you forward.
@Christi ~ hey I think cafepress store items count as products!!! Good job taking action.
@Ingrid ~ believe me, I understand where you are coming from. What I’ve realized for me is that I have to do things that I love doing. It’s the only way I can stay motivated to keep doing it over the long haul. I LOVE to blog ~ so it’s really easy for me to do that, and to answer questions ~ because I love to do that as well. There are SOOOO many ways to make money online the challenge in the beginning is FINDING that 1 thing you enjoy doing and then stick to it. It’s kind of counterintuitive because you have to try some different things before you can find the one that’s going to work for you before you settle down into your own thing.
If you need some help setting up a blog just let me know ~ I am probably going to start a series on that but probably not until after Christmas so people can stay focused without distractions on this.
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Hi Jackie
It always great hearing from you. I have really been at tug-o-war with myself. I know this is what I want, as a matter of fact I have no choice. That is why I am up all day and night doing what needs to be done or so I thought. I am devising a daily plan without which I will be stuck forever where I am. I have a fairly good idea of how to build a lens. I write tons of articles from which I make sales and some google adsense, but I need to move it up a notch. Its kind of in the same place for too long. My article writing takes up most of my time considering I do have a full time 9-5. Which I hate so much. That is the inspiration I am using to get going.
I am too easily distracted on the internet and wish I could just switch things off. Anyway devising a daily action plan will surely help me to move along in the right direction.
My major obstacles are setting up a blog properly I am really lost there. I know what I need to learn, I just cant seem to figure it out, so I am thinking of getting some coaching. I need to be fully functional on my own by January 2010. I MUST create that entrepreneurial mindset. I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.
Thanks Jackie, I certainly admire your hard work and dedication to help others.
Your are a gem.
Ingrid
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Hey, Jackie, very good post and it hits on what is the most difficult for me in this. Getting on with the DOING rather than futzing around on the net (although, I do still do that, I’m getting better at doing it LESS).
So, I finally got my first lens published yesterday. Not a product lens per se, but something that I think folks will find entertaining and highlights some of my Cafe Press products and such. I tried to do a product lens when I first signed up on Squidoo and it kept saying I did everything right, but I was wrong! No lens materialized. Three times I went through that. Even logged out and back in as they suggested. It was very frustrating, which is why I went with a less “important” lens to start with and to “practice” on.
Now, off to do another. Have a great day and thanks for all the help.
Christi
Great post Jackie. The mental mindset is definitely the hardest thing to work through. I am all to familiar with the monthly cash crunch and it can be very stressful, especially with a little one now.
Keeping a positive outlook can go a long way. Not everyday is going to be sunshine and roses but the key is to keep thinking on the bright side so you ensure there are more sunny days than cloudy days!
Chad