How many times have you found yourself saying “if only I knew/discovered/did this sooner, how much better would my life be”?
This phrase can drive you insane if you let it, this is because it is fundementally implying that until now you have been doing things wrong.
Now you may be asking what does this have to do with internet marketing, well as soon as you hit that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and all your life’s dreams start becoming a reality its going to slip out at least one, and its not always a bad thing.
What you probably don’t realise is that you can use this phrase to your advantage by doing a few simple things, here is how.
1. Use back from the future thinking
Recently I ran a test on some ad placements on one of my minisites that had been running happily for months and the click through rate went from 0.76% to over 8.12% and the dollars followed. First thought “If only…” but then I thought to myself, “If I am going to be saying this in the future, what will the next thing that I will be saying it about be?” and the answer I came up with was a new way of TESTING. Bingo! An idea worth tens of thousands if not hundreds to me.
2. How can it help others?
After going through Eben Pagans self made wealth program my religion these days is “value-addism” a concept where you walk around all day looking for ways and opportunities to add value anywhere and everywhere. So ask yourself right after one of these “If only…” events questions like:
- How can this help other people?
- Where will these people hang out?
- What are the ways I can leverage my time to get the message out?
When you think of it these questions are exercising your marketing muscles and can really help you out.
3. Look at whats working and do more of it
Most new entrepreneurs want to reinvent the wheel. In one episode of Shark Tank a guy had invented a way to make a guitar you can fold in half. When he presented it to the panel of super business savvy mega millionaires (and a billionaire) they say “Why don’t you licence it to the already existing big names in the industry and collect a royalty for life?” he foolishly said something along the lines of, “I already have my own business setup, I can make more money this way” WRONG! Business is hard, collecting a cheque for royalties is easy.
Anyway my point here is look at your “If only…” moment and ask yourself, “is there a way here that I can focus and get some more mileage out of this idea” instead of going off to find a new one. Scale what works and don’t be stupid.
Look out for moments like this in your life, write them down and use them like the tool they can be.
Make a fortune,
Mike McMahon
