Tuesday, September 30, 2003 - Volume 1 Issue 2
Colin Evans, Editor (mailto:
)
In this issue
1. From the Editor
2. Did It Work For Me?
3. Featured Articles:
--- The Formula for Failure and Success - by Jim Rohn
--- Uncle Sam Cracks Down Online! - by Jim Edwards
4. Motivational Quotes
5. Take A Break: Which Came First?
6. Tell Me what You Think
From the Editor - Colin Evans
Hi Everyone 
Welcome to this edition of Cols-A-To-Z.
Was all the fear and trepidation of writing and publishing my last issue (my very first one) worth it?
Most definitely. I enjoyed it too
It just goes to show how your inner fears can be so totally wrong. It also shows how inhibiting your comfort zone can be.
I cannot even begin to describe what I have encountered in the weeks preceding the launch of Cols-A-To-Z, never mind what I have learned and the feelings I have experienced since the launch.
I am now doing something I previously believed I couldn't do.
Sure, I'm still a bit worried about the effort that will be required to run this e-zine, but not nearly as worried as I was a couple of weeks ago.
Actually I'm now kicking myself for not doing this years ago. This is fun.
And do you want to know the best thing about starting this e-zine?
I'm starting to make contact with people I would never have before. I'm starting to expand my network.
Right then, let's get on with it...
Did It Work For Me? by Colin Evans
Downline clubs are quite on old concept, but seem to have made a bit of a come back lately.
What is a downline club?
It is an online program which you join, and then promote so you can get people to join under you, known as building a downline.
The owner of the downline club joins various other programs, which are normally "pay to join" programs and his/her downline will follow them into these programs (in theory).
The whole concept is that you build a downline before joining paid programs. This means that when you join, any commission you earn will more than likely pay for your join fee and any monthly fees. If you have a big enough downline, you will earn a monthly income from the commissions.
So, when you follow your sponsor into these programs, you hope that your downline will follow you.
Do they work?
That's like asking how long is a piece of string...
And depends to a large degree on how good your sponsor is at training you.
I have joined downline clubs and then left them because I was getting nowhere with them. In one instance I rejoined a downline club under another sponsor and started to build a downline from the very first day.
Needless to say my sponsor is highly motivated and is good at training his downline.
I would say there are three things to look for when joining a downline club:
- The downline club must be free to join.
The next two points are valid for any online opportunity...
- Send your sponsor an e-mail soon after you have joined. If you don't get a reply after a couple of attempts, send an e-mail to the program owner and ask to be moved under a sponsor who is known to be actively involved with their downline.
- 3) The downline club must have a good downline training system. By that I mean that it must have more than just a few training articles and resource links. There must be some sort of personal upline involvement in the training system.
And if you belong to any online program and don't bother to communicate with your downline and actively help them, you won't have them for long.
Especially if they are reading this
Featured Article: The Formula for Failure and Success by Jim Rohn
(Excepted from the book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle by Jim
Rohn)
Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.
Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.
On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.
If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!
Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.
Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.
But we must become better educated than that!
If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.
Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.
Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.
Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.
Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.
But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success- oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.
One of the exciting things about the formula for success- A few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.
The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence – not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to
http://www.jimrohn.com
Copyright © 2000 Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.
Featured Article: Uncle Sam Cracks Down Online! by Jim Edwards
In a move that rocked the online world and left many Internet marketers
shaking in their boots, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated a
sweeping crackdown on what they termed "Internet Scammers" and
"Deceptive Spammers."
The FTC, along with state and federal officials, filed numerous criminal and
civil law enforcement actions and froze the corporate and personal assets of
some defendants.
According to the FTC, they went after a wide array of deceptive schemes and
illegal scams including auction fraud, illegal sale of controlled substances, bogus
business opportunities, deceptive money-making scams, illegal advance-fee
credit card offers, and identity theft.
In other words, Uncle Sam gave notice that people can no longer treat the
Internet like the Wild, Wild West!
I welcome this long overdue crackdown on Internet evildoers.
For years, honest business owners suffered because Internet scammers caused
consumer fear and reluctance to conduct business online.
As the government cleans up the back alleys of the Internet, consumer
confidence will rise and sales will increase.
However, as with any crusade to bring about law and order, innocent businesses
stand a real chance of getting caught in the crossfire.
Let's face it, if you get named in a lawsuit by the government - even if you're
innocent -you'll still lose a lot of time, energy, emotion, and money defending
yourself.
If you operate any business online, or plan to set one up, the following
guidelines should help you avoid problems.
** Always Tell The Truth
Actually, this basic lesson from your Mom ranks the best way to avoid all kinds
of trouble! "The truth shall set you free" ranks just as appropriate in the online
world as in the offline world.
In fact, in the light of recent events, the truth might actually keep you out of jail!
** Avoid Outrageous Claims
Don't make outrageous claims you can't substantiate.
A big difference exists between good copywriting (salesmanship in print) and
making claims that no sane person, or at least the average person, could ever
achieve.
It's one thing to tell people you can show them "how to get thousands of hits to
their website." It's quite another to say you will "show them how to get 10,000
hits to their website by tomorrow and make $15,000 this weekend."
** Turn the Tables
Look at what your business promises and actually delivers from the standpoint
of a consumer.
Would you feel happy or sad once you did business with yourself?
Would you feel like you got your money's worth, or would you feel like you'd
been held up at gunpoint in the middle of the night in the mini-mart parking
lot?
Your gut answer to that question will go a long way toward keeping you out of
trouble with the government.
Sort of funny how the "Golden Rule" of "do unto others as you would have
them do unto you" keeps cropping up in life as a way to consistently avoid
trouble and heartache.
Jim Edwards and Bruce Safran are co-creators of "The Online Marketer's &
Website Owner's Legal Information Clinic" -- the authoritative guide to
protecting yourself and your website against needless harassment, lawsuits,
and other legal problems.
"Discover The TRUTH About Why the FTC or other Law Enforcement Agencies
will "Raid" your Internet Business... and What YOU Can Do To Prevent It!"
Go Here =>
http://www.weblawclinic.com
Motivational Quotes
Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
- Vince Lombardi
To fight fear, act. To increase fear - wait, put off, postpone.
- David Joseph Schwartz
Take A Break: Which Came First?
A man was helping one of his cows deliver her calf, when he noticed his 4 year-old son standing wide-eyed at the fence, soaking in the whole event.
The young father thought, "Great... he's 4 and I'm gonna have to start explaining the birds and bees. No need to jump in too deep...
Let him ask a question, and I'll answer."
After everything was over, the man walked over to his son and said, "Well little buddy, do you have any questions?"
"Just one, Daddy!" gasped the still wide-eyed boy. "How fast was that calf going when he hit the cow?"
Tell Me What You Think
I would love to hear what you think of this issue of the "Cols-A-To-Z" Newsletter.
And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you'd like to
share with me, please send those, too!
Just e-mail me at:
To subscribe to my "Cols-A-To-Z" Newsletter, go to the following URL:
http://www.cols-a-to-z.com/join.html
Written by Colin Evans
President, Cols-A-To-Z.com
© copyright 2003 Cols-A-To-Z.com
