Recently, Bear Grylls, the survival expert, was lowered into the Florida Everglades from a helicopter along with a knife, watch, water bottle, flint and the clothes on his back. His mission - to survive and get out!

He landed up to his thighs in water and checked around him for signs of alligators. Some of the swamp alligators are huge. Many of us would have climbed right back into the helicopter and flown off at speed in the direction of civilization.

He faced several days of humid weather in a watery land that hosts a million alligators and not a few deadly snakes, bears, scorpions and other hazards. He had to find his own way out to safety. The helicopter had gone.

Any survival story can teach at least three valuable success lessons:

Firstly, it can make us appreciate how easy, safe and comfortable our normal lives are. Once we realize this, most of our tasks will seem comparatively easy. We can do them without watching under the bed for predators who see us as breakfast and without taking time out to hunt down our own food!

Secondly, we can learn that knowledge and skills give us life saving power and that time spent increasing our knowledge and key skills is time well spent.

Thirdly, we can learn ways to keep up our morale when we experience tough and tiring situations.

The title of this account about eating frogs refers to two ways of eating frogs. Small frogs provide much needed protein if you are stranded in a swamp without food. Frogs in the glades are not poisonous and can be eaten with confidence!

Secondly, most people naturally hate the idea of eating frogs so Brian Tracy teaches that we should eat the frog i.e. deal with the task we least want to do first thing in the morning.

Everything else will then seem much easier and we will be inspired by our success in having already dealt with the worst task of the day.

However, some people might prefer to deal with the easier tasks first just to get themselves going. We are all different and need different types of motivation.

Bear Gryll’s first task was obvious. He needed a weapon. He wasted no time in locating a stick that could be used to poke at an alligator’s eyes and nostrils.

It would, at least, give him extra reach to try to keep the alligator at a distance. Safety is a vital priority of any successful nation or individual.

Bear’s next priority was to decide on the direction he should take to get out of the glades before his energy gave out. A key part of survival is to save energy by avoiding going round in circles.

He climbed a tree to get his bearings by tying his shoe laces together and then shinning up a branchless tree using the shoelaces for leverage.

This technique allowed him to use his legs to power himself up the tree. His arms were only used for balance. An important survival and success principle is to make use of all the physical and mental strength you possess.

Another key survival principle is to be prepared before you enter a new situation. You especially need to study the geography of a place and any landmarks or clues that may help you find your way.

In the city, those with weak bladders or heavy drinkers need to check out potential rest rooms or bushes that will provide cover when they just have to relieve themselves!

At the top of the tree, Bear looked for pine trees since they grow on dry land but all he saw were cypress trees and water oaks. That means swamp and more swamp. He had to try another method.

To succeed, you may have to try out several methods before you achieve your goal. Edison’s thousand attempts to create a light bulb is the classic example of this kind of perseverance.

Bear knew that higher ground in the Everglades is inland and that the direction of inland was west. He pointed the hour hand of his watch to the sun knowing that half way between the sun and 12 o’clock is south.

He could work out the direction of west from that. It was essential that he stick to his plan of going west to avoid going round in circles. Sometimes success involves sticking to one plan for at least a few days.

Bear headed off west and tripped over a log which had the sinister shape of a half-submerged alligator. The swamps are scary. You never know what you are treading on. Bear was spooked.

He spotted bubbles and quickly got out of the water onto the trunk of a nearby tree. No point in taking risks.

He made much noise by splashing water and hitting trees with his stick to give warning of his presence to alligators. They are much more likely to attack you if they are surprised and think they have to defend themselves.

He came to a clearing with some deep water in it and a few alligators sunning themselves to keep warm. Bear did not want to risk wading across the deep water so he looked for another way.

He found a cypress that was leaning across the clearing. Bear knew that a cypress tree that can grow in water would be unlikely to break. He climbed up the cypress and then swung across to another tree at the far side and shimmied down to ground level.

It was late and Bear knew that he had to get out of the water before night fall - the main feeding time for alligators.

He found a pop ash tree which had enough limbs which would allow him to construct a base long enough to sleep on at full stretch and wide enough to prevent him rolling out into the water. Vines and other useful materials were all around. This would save him time and energy.

He used the fronds of a cabbage palm to provide bedding. Once the bed was made, fire was Bear’s next priority. Fire would keep predators away and dry his clothes.

He made a mud base on the bed for a fire and dried and checked his feet for trench foot. If your feet are wet for twelve hours or more, the skin starts to flake off and eventually becomes infected and “out here, if you can’t walk, you die.”

Without Bear’s knowledge, lighting a fire would be impossible in such damp surroundings. The power of relevant knowledge is essential for survival and success.

His first night in the swamp was not relaxing. Scary noises were all around as the swamp life came alive. The mosquitoes bit him on his thighs when he removed his trousers to dry them.

In the morning, he needed to drink water. He used his shirt to filter the swamp water and then boiled the water to kill parasites and bacteria. While he waited for the water to boil, he used his water bottle to show him south. He tied it to his stick and watched to see which way it would swing - a shrewd local technique.

The water of the Everglades flows slowly south to the gulf of Mexico. After 30 minutes the bottle had swung round about 2 feet and stayed level. Bear knew his direction again and moved on looking for food.

The dead wood of the swamp is often home to bugs and insects. He found the larvae of some carpenter ants which are four times higher in protein content than beef. They taste sour but are a life saver. A survivor cannot afford to be fussy.

He moved on through cypress tree roots and then a plain of saw grass. Bear’s knowledge again helped him to negotiate these areas safely. Time after time his journey through the swamps showed the power of knowledge and key skills.

Learning useful skills and what you need to know is hugely important for both survival and success.

He now came across an alligator infested river. His knowledge would be more important than ever. For example, he knew that alligators can run at thirty miles an hour over short distances. If an alligator hisses, it could be about to attack. They do not feed at midday.

Bear had to find a safe place to swim the river. In 2006 three women were killed by alligators in one week - one was swimming and two others were dragged in from the water’s edge.

Bear found a narrow part of the river with good visibility all the way around. He waited an hour knowing that a large male alligator could stay underwater for up to 45 minutes.

In hot weather they often lie in deep water to cool down. Bear looked for any ripples or the eyes of the alligator just above water. Survival and success often demand relentless patience.

Bear had waited for an hour. He swam underwater so that he would not be mistaken for a bird or a turtle bobbing on the surface of the water. He kept his knife in his hand.

His heart was thumping as he reached the far side. He walked on to reach pine trees and dry land where alligators would no longer be a threat as they only live near water:

Bear commented that one word sums up the Everglades: “Unforgiving.”

However, food was available. He found a small frog and ate it raw making sure that he killed it with his first bite. Eat whenever you can to survive. He then made a net to catch some minnows and ate those raw as well.

He next found some grapefruit and oranges. This was a sign that the area may have been used by the Seminole Indians who were forced to hide from the US army in the early 19th century.

Bear made a shelter in this dry area. “If it was good enough for the Seminoles, it is good enough for me.” He made a morale boosting fire to keep predators away.

Next morning, he found a turtle that was not protected. He killed it swiftly and cooked it, as the Seminoles do, in its shell. The shell is brittle and cracks when the meat is ready to eat. Bear commented:

“It really does taste quite like chicken. That’s really good fleshy meat. The turtle has given me vital energy and has also given me a psychological boost and so much of survival is about keeping your morale up. Recharged, I am going to keep heading west.”

The dry land seemed safer than the swamp but appearances are deceptive. Bear soon came across a noisy rattlesnake. Such snakes can strike up to half their body length. He kept his eye on it and backed away slowly. You have to be very careful when walking round in thigh deep grass.

Snakes were not the only problem. There were black bears around. Bear came a cross a huge paw print on a tree. I was once chased by an Iranian mountain bear cub when I was a kid so I know how even small bears can inspire fear!

He now came into an area of swamp mud and found a sink hole of the type which can swallow small vehicles. He jumped into a hole to demonstrate how to get out. He showed how, if he struggled in an upright position, he was sucked further in.

He escaped by leaning forward and using his stick held horizontally in both his hands to create more surface area to lean forward on. He still had to work hard and wriggle out. Once on the surface, he monkey crawled away.

Recently, a jogger fell into a sink hole up to his chest and was stuck there for three days. He was found on the fourth day delirious and covered in bug bites.

Bear now came across a fence and a road. He had survived!

In the Everglades, salvation can be found just round the next tree. If you’re lost never give up hope. If you’re failing, never give up. Success could be just round the corner!

Learn the skills you need to succeed and stick to your plans! Eat the frogs if necessary but above all, appreciate how much easier it is to live with appetizing food, clean water, decent shelter and a nice, warm bed readily available!

LSAT exams or Law School Admission Test is a mandatory standardized exam that one has to clear to be eligible for admission to any law school in the United States. In most cases the LSAT score is the deciding factor in helping you get entry in a reputed law school. Well who would not like to have a great academic carrier by studying law in one of the premier institutes in the country? Competition is intense and if you are really serious about having a good academic record, you need to make special efforts in this direction. So the first criterion for you to study in a reputed law school in United States is to clear the LSAT exams. The test format is made in such a way that it actually helps in evaluating the reasoning and other ability of the candidate.

If you are residing in New York then you are really lucky. The reason for this is New York is among one of the busiest metros in the world and undoubtedly you will find a LSAT tutor New York that will help you in taking the test and clearing it successfully without any hassles. Having a good preparation for the test is very important and taking help from a tutor is a good option that one can go for. Most of the LSAT tutors or any other tutors are experienced and their main aim is to help students who want to take the exams. The tutor is the best person that can help in the preparation for the exams. The tutor can actually help the students in knowing about the exact format of the examination so that they can clear the exams easily.

The test consists of one multiple choice section and one writing section to test the ability of the student in both the areas. The multiple choice section is divided in to five parts and in all the section one will have to apply logic to solve the questions successfully. In fact this can turn out to be really tough if one does not have the right preparations for the exam. Of the five parts of the multiple choices section the first part is the critical reasoning section, the second is the logic section where simple applying simple logic can help to solve the question. The third section consists of comprehension question where a candidate will have to solve about twenty four questions. However the number of question varies depending on the type of LSAT exams you are taking, a standard procedure is followed for all the tests.

LSAT tutor will take mock testes based on this format, so that you know beforehand what questions to expect from the LSAT exams. Clearing the test successfully is not an easy thing to do and the bets you can do is to hire the services of a LSAT tutor to help you out. Whether you can make a success or not out of your profession depends on the LSAT exams that you take, if you want to excel in the field of law. The choice is all yours and you have to make the correct decisions about this.

The terms “life experiences,” “choice,” “karma,” “and unconditional love” are all part of the same whole. I will explain them individually, in the way that I received them in my own teachings; however, they must be understood holistically. One without the other can bring confusion. Together, these terms explain the wonder of life.

Life Experience

Life is physical. We are born into a physical body, and we live in a physical world. We interpret our experiences physically. This physicality allows us to “feel,” which the spirits have explained to me is the major component of the earth experience. The earth experience is one of emotion, where the soul acquires a physical understanding of emotion. For example, it is one thing to conceptualize anger and another thing to experience anger and to feel it throughout the body. The same holds true for love. It is significantly different to think about being in love and about the concept of love than it is to “feel” love and the emotions and physical sensations of love. When one thinks of the vast array of human emotions, one realizes how many lifetimes must be lived in order to “know” life.

It is the spirits’ message that we live many lifetimes and experience many life forms and situations along our path to understanding. With each incarnation, your spirit selects the physical realities you will experience in that lifetime. You, embodied in your spirit, choose the circumstances you will be born into: the life conditions, the geographic location, the economic status, the handicaps, and the body type. You actually choose all of the fixed factors that will constitute a major portion of your life experience. You also choose your variable life conditions-those conditions that can change through growth and development as you progress through life. These choices constitute the conditions under which you live each lifetime. What you have chosen to experience is designed for a particular unfolding of your soul. The choices are made at a spiritual level-a soulful, subconscious level-before you incarnate into this particular body. The unfortunate thing about being human is that you do not get to remember, consciously, the spiritual choices that you made before your incarnation. This lack of remembering, however, allows you to experience each life fully and completely in its current physical reality.

Choice

Choice, or free will, refers to how you choose to relate to your life’s conditions. You can always choose your reaction to any given circumstance, which means that variables can change instantaneously with each choice. Your choices have direct impact on both your physical life and on the growth of your soul. Each lifetime will grant you a different perspective and facilitate new awareness. Each will provide physical experience for the soul. You may spend several lifetimes experiencing the hardships of life without any inclination to seek God or enlightenment; however, there will come a time when the soul asks you to wake up, to pay attention, and to look at the big picture of life. Questions like, “What is the purpose of life?” “Who am I?” and “What is God?” will arise in you. You will begin to search for answers. This may take many lifetimes and numerous answers, each with a variation of experience and exposure. In the end, every soul will reach enlightenment because every soul is a reflection of God.

You may wonder why anybody would choose negative life experiences like sexual molestation, alcoholism, or being born into warring or starving countries; however, each life has a divine plan with necessary experiences for the soul. All life experience adds to personal growth. No life is a waste; there are no mistakes. No lifetime is judged to be better than another because each is a chosen experience toward enlightenment.

A soul might choose to experience prejudice. You may have chosen to be a slave during the 1700’s in the United States as one dimension of the experience of prejudice. Since the soul is seeking to know all dimensions, you may then have chosen a lifetime as a slave owner, and then as a Ku Klux Klan member, then a parent who lost a child to the Klan, then a person of interracial marriage, and then a parent of someone who chose to marry interracially. Every conceivable perspective of prejudice could be experienced. The lessons in each of these lifetimes become a part of the unfolding process of the soul. You may currently be experiencing a lifetime with alcoholism-as the parent of an alcoholic, or the child, or the spouse, or the counselor, or as the alcoholic who dies from liver failure, or the alcoholic who survives and becomes reformed. Whatever perspective you are living is part of the divine plan for you to experience and learn from.

Nothing is experienced singly; everything is interwoven with others who constitute your lifetime experience. Once you, as a soul, make the choice to experience a particular concept, other souls help you play out these experiences. They are often referred to as your “spirit family.” We tend to experience life on earth with a particular group of souls, changing parts, or scripts, with each lifetime. You will find numerous links and interconnections with your family or circle of friends when you start to explore other lifetimes. It can be fun and healing. Behaviors, attitudes, and trauma can be understood more completely from the deeper historical perspective. Here is an example:

I was told a great true story the other day about a woman who was researching her genealogy. She traced her family line back to the era of the Civil War when her family served as slaves. She reached an impasse in her project, and was directed to a genealogy specialist. She and the specialist became great friends as they explored different aspects of her family’s history. They developed a special bond and were both glad their lives had come together. As their investigation continued, they discovered that they shared a common history. The genealogist’s ancestral family members were plantation owners during the Civil War, and, in fact, were the plantation owners where this woman’s ancestral family served as slaves!

Coincidence you say? Hardly.

Many times, in the process of a soul retrieval, I will journey to a client’s past life experience. A healing can be done in this past life reality that will actually affect my client’s current life-a phenomenon that underscores that time is relative. The spirits have repeatedly told me that time is not linear but holographic, meaning that all things happen at the same moment but in different realities. This makes shamanic journeying for soul retrievals, or visiting different lifetimes, possible. The person doing the journey travels into that particular time dimension. The ability to cross into other dimensions means we can relive or view a past event and find healing in what we thought no longer existed. We can remember a future before it is present.

In the aftermath of the horrific events that took place on the Virginia Tech campus this week, many on the left are attempting to use this tragic situation to promote legislation for gun control. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard reporters and analysts use the term “which he purchased legally” when speaking of the two handguns Cho Seung-Hui used to carry out his slaughter. Like a man who was willing to kill 32 innocent people and himself would not have purchased the weapons illegally had he needed to.

This country has made cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and other drugs all illegal. Yet none of these are the least bit difficult to come by if one is so inclined. Any time that this country has outlawed a substance or product where there was still a demand, they just opened up a bigger market for organized crime. In the case of the V Tech tragedy, this was not a guy that just killed somebody because a handgun was easy to come by legally. It’s becoming apparent that Cho has been deranged for years and this was the culmination of a long thought out plan. No gun laws were going to stop him. Virginia Tech is a “No Guns” campus. Not even the police that operate on campus are allowed to be armed. Therefore when Cho started his carnage, he was the only one with the guns. It’s naive to think that just because the government outlaws handguns, that they would go away, or even decrease in numbers for that matter.

When liberals try to legislate in an effort to create a better society, they do so with a Utopian outcome already in mind. They are then very hesitant to examine the would-be legislation any further, to see if any negative outcomes might be possible. In the case of tougher gun legislation, I can think of several negative outcomes off the top of my head. While most law-abiding citizens would probably comply and participate in some kind of buy-back program, as well as refrain from purchasing handguns through illegal sources, the criminals and would-be criminals would not. Over time the bad guys would gain more and more of an advantage over the good guys. Right now in this country, the areas which make purchasing guns the easiest are the areas with the least amount of break-ins. It seems criminals are less likely to knock down a door if they think there’s a good chance a Smith & Wesson is waiting for them on the other side. Go figure. Also, with all crimes involving handguns being committed with illegal ones, the tracking system that we now have in place would go away. Law enforcement would have a much tougher job of tracking down the gun’s origin and owners, making arrests and convictions much more difficult.

Anti gun advocates are also quick to site examples of other nations that have implemented tougher gun laws, the UK, Australia, etc. While some of these countries have had some success in lowering their gun related crimes, none of these countries are the USA. Whether it’s because of our loose borders, or large scale presence of organized crime, traditionally, laws enacted to “ban” substances or actions are usually met with failure. Take prohibition for example. What started out as legislation to reduce crime and improve society, ended up being a complete disaster. Crime went skyrocketing, people drank more than ever, and the Kennedy family was created. When liberals defend their stand on legalized abortions, they are quick to point out the return to the days of “back-alley” abortions that would most likely ensue. It seems that when it’s to defend their stand on an issue, they can then take the time to examine the legislation for possible negative outcomes.

Officials on campus were so worried about offending a student’s creative sensitivities, they did nothing when presented with a demented play that Cho had written for an English professor. While it is my firm belief that no gun laws on earth would have changed the events of this terrible day, perhaps campus officials taking action, instead of worrying about Political Correctness, might have.

Although podcasting has been around for a number of years, it didn’t really become popular until about three years ago, when Apple created its iPod player. Podcasting is simply an audio recording of text ? frequently a blog — that can be played on an mp3 device or over a computer. The term “podcasting” is a combination of the terms “iPod” and “broadcasting”.

Podcasts are not difficult to make if you have the proper tools at hand. If you want to simply speak extemporaneously, as is often the case, all that is needed is a good microphone and recording device with editing capability. It’s also useful to have a way to convert the recorded file into mp3 format to make it widely available for listeners. This recording process is quick and easy, requiring minimal preparation and rehearsal, for the most part.

However, if someone wants to record a prepared text, a teleprompter or software autocue is very helpful in displaying the material to be spoken in such a way as to simplify the reading process. Professional broadcasters use this device while presenting their newscasts on the air. Having the words in front of you and moving at a defined pace decreases the likelihood of losing your place and makes for a smoother read.

Since podcasting deals with sound, be certain to check that your level is consistent throughout and the end result is clear and audible. There should be no unwanted background sounds, muffles, or other distractions. These can be edited out of the final product, if necessary. You can also add background, such as music, but make sure you are not using something that requires a royalty payment or similar charge. It’s easy enough to find a large selection of music online suitable for inclusion with podcasting.

Creating a podcast as an adjunct to a web site is now common practice. Marketing studies have shown that the visitor feels more of a connection to the web site if there is also a voice along with the words on the page. This tends to build the ‘relationship’ more quickly and increase comfort levels. It’s also a good idea to keep your podcast updated and fresh.

Your podcast could be hosted on your web site or at a remote location with a link to it. There are a couple of web sites that allow free posting and will provide hosting space for your podcast. The major advantage to hosting elsewhere is it will cut down on the necessary bandwidth, and podcasts, by their very nature, use a lot of bandwidth.

You can probably find podcasts on almost any subject imaginable. Some authors provide both the written and spoken word to get their message out. That then gives the reader or listener the option of using whatever format is most convenient to them. When learning a difficult subject, or one that requires hearing the spoken sounds, such as a foreign language, people often find that having both - reading and listening simultaneously - provides the easiest method of mastering the material. Getting the auditory as well as visual queue makes it easier to retain the subject matter.

And as with books and articles, the podcast is only as good as the presenter. If the subject is not properly researched or contains inaccurate information, if the subject is not addressed in a logical way that is easy to understand, then the podcast has little value.

Just as podcasting challenges the presenter to be interesting and informed, it should compel the listener to pay attention. This is a great way to get a message across, and it appears that the popularity of podcasting will only increase in the foreseeable future.

You don’t need me to tell you that link building is vital to the success of your your site. But, building links means spending dozens of hours writing emails requesting a link to hundreds of web sites…right? Here’s an easy to duplicate experiment that shows just how simple it is to earn hundreds of quality links back to your site with just a couple of hours of work.

First, we’re going create a fake name (or pen name) which we’ll use to track the results of this experiment. Any name is fine (except one that’s so outlandish that it’s obviously made up) but it needs to be unique to Google’s search results. There must be no web pages returned for the name when you search for it (with the name in quote marks) on Google.

As an example, I thought of Kevan Malloy and, when I searched on Google for “Kevan Malloy” (just like that, surrounded by quotes), Google returned no results. That’s exactly what we want for this experiment - if we use a name that isn’t in Google’s index, it will be simple to track our efforts by just making another search in two weeks to see how many results appear then.

After you’ve come up with a pen name that has no results in Google, you need to make with a list of around 25 blogs that cover topics that you’re interested in or that relate to your industry. If you don’t follow the blogs in your industry (what?), now’s a good time to compile a list by searching for ‘blog directory’ on Yahoo! or Live and saving the blogs to your web browser’s bookmarks.

Now, visit each blog in your list and leave a comment on one of the recent posts (within the last week or so). Don’t think about promoting any of your current sites or trying to sneak in an affiliate link, just leave a short thoughtful response to the post. Each blog will ask for your name when you comment - leave your pen name.

In a couple of hours you should have time to comment on 20 blog posts - stop when you reach 20. Now you need to wait two weeks (bookmark this article so you can compare your results with mine) and go back to Google and search for your pen name (again, in quotes). What you want to see is how successful your posting spree was by noting how many results search engines return for your previously un-indexed pen name. Here are my results: Google: 53 pages, MSN/Live: 302 pages, Yahoo!: 226 pages.

I made those 20 posts in just two hours to make and now there are over 30 pages of results in the three major search engines for my pen name. Now, these aren’t links back to my site (because I didn’t provide a link back to my site when I made the comments) but most of the blogs would have added a backlink if I had included one. Now, What if you were to take just a couple of hours a week to make comments on blog posts? Valuable insightful comments on subjects related to their industry are very valuable to blog owners so you could easily earn hundreds of backlinks to your site in just a few hours work. At worst, you’ll get your name in front of prospects in your industry and build some name recognition as well. In either case, it’s an amazing return for just a small amount of effort.

With every “guru” preaching, “The money is in the list.” Are you starting to realize the importance of having your own? If not then you should really get with the program.

With tons of articles and books on how to grow your list, there are really four main things you need to know to do it efficiently.

The first is put a nice looking web form at the bottom of your site right after the content. Try to make it look like a mini capture page, you could even put a dashed box around it for looks. There are many people out there that say when you ask for someone’s information on the first page it’s too soon.

You have to remember something, that visitor may only be on your site for 10 seconds. Wouldn’t you want those 10 seconds spent subscribing to your newsletter? The simpler the better when it comes to opt-in forms. Just ask for the email and name, maybe even just their first name. A nice incentive is to offer some valuable bonuses just for signing up.

After they sign in their name direct them to a bonus page where you give them their bonuses.

The second is to make your website impressive in the eyes of your visitor. What would the visitor be looking for on your site? You need to have numerous high content articles and a solid design. Don’t concentrate on fancy graphics because tests show that content out pulls graphics any day of the week.

Deliver value to your visitor and they will sign up for your newsletter if they think they can learn more from you. Also, make sure your website loads fast. Even though we are truly in the age of the cable modem, not everyone is up to speed yet!

The third is to provide good customer service. This truly makes the difference in most customers eyes. Your list should be treated like your most prized possession. Make sure you are answering questions and helping people as much as possible, they will return if they have a pleasant experience with you. Also, a return customer will spend much more than a new one and also recommend you to friends.

The fourth is crucial to your success and that is to keep the list private and spam free. If you lose trust with your customers then you will never get them back. Never sell or distribute anyone’s email address EVER, this is very important. The trusting bond you have with your list must never be broken. If you are looking at quick profits by selling your list then you shouldn’t be growing a list in the first place.

One of the first big mistakes Internet marketers make is to try to copy what they think is successful. They hear stories of how popular sites like Digg or MySpace have become and their first thought is to try to copy those ideas without putting any thought into whether those sites are worth copying or not.

Simply because a site receives a lot of traffic doesn’t mean that it’s profitable or that its underlying business model is worth copying. Many sites are successful because they came along at the right time and filled a unique need in the marketplace that just doesn’t exist anymore. Many more sites seem successful, but can’t turn that success into significant income for their owners.

Digg receives tons of traffic but barely breaks even financially. MySpace and Facebook have millions of users but those users are strongly tied to those sites because of their strong brand and because that’s where their friends are. Even if you were to come up with a better version of Digg or MySpace (and many have tried), a critical mass of people have already committed to using those sites and there just aren’t enough unaffiliated people in those markets for your “me too” site to be successful.

The million-dollar home page is another good example. Being first to market with that idea and a great public relations campaign were what made that site successful, not the underlying business model. But, thousands of copycat sites popped up trying to siphon off some of its success without understanding that the business model relied on factors they simply couldn’t duplicate. None of them could hope to capture the media attention of the original and that’s what made it as successful as it was.

While there are certainly ideas in the Internet marketing world that are worth copying, it’s rare to find a successful website that you’ll make money copying. Typically, successful websites become successful due to almost random factors and those factors simply can’t be duplicated by the second or third movers in a market.

For example, while it’s certainly lucrative to run a popular Internet marketing forum, you’ll face a long hard road if you enter that market now with your own copycat Internet marketing forum. The big players are simply too entrenched for your entry to attract many of their users without a compelling reason for those users to defect. Unfortunately, “I want to make money with my forum too” is not a compelling reason.

Your path to success will be much shorter if you break out of the copycat mindset. Big success doesn’t come from trying to imitate someone else’s big success. Imitate their methods, imitate their approach to marketing, and imitate the principles that made them a success, but don’t try to imitate their ideas. Their ideas were successful because of a unique combination of their effective action, their experience, their reputation, and a healthy dose of good timing and good fortune that will be nearly impossible for you to duplicate.

One of the biggest mistakes that new online marketers make is trying to think of ways to monetize their site or blog too soon. I can’t count the number of times I have seen brand-new Internet marketing blogs that have many more ads than they do posts or whose only content is “product reviews” that only thinly disguise their affiliate links.

By thinking monetization too soon, site owners take their focus away from building content and only solid content will both attract visitors and retain them long term. Monetize too soon and your site will never attract a critical mass of visitors and never make it to the point where you’re making significant income from it.

Especially when you’re just starting out in a market, it makes much more business sense to give before you try to take. To give unique content and establish your credibility in that market instead of trying to take immediately by littering your content with affiliate links or contextual ads.

Think for a moment why you buy products that are advertised on a particular blog or site. In most cases you don’t buy because of how well integrated the ads are with the content (something else new marketers seem obsessed with) or even how good the sales page is, you buy because you trust the opinion of the person on whose page you saw the ad. Especially when it comes to information products, I know I have bought products from certain authors site unseen because I respect their opinion and know they produce quality work because of the information they provide on their blog.

This is most important when you’re trying to break into a crowded marketplace or blog in a competitive industry. It just isn’t realistic to think that a site clearly driven by the desire to earn money over providing value for its visitors will even get noticed. There are just too many other established sites for visitors to go to that actually do provide good unique content for any “I want to make money too” site with thin content to survive.

Do yourself a favor, don’t think short-term when you launch your next site. Concentrate on providing unique content or value to your visitors before thinking up ways to make money off of them. You’ll not only build your readership more quickly, it will better establish your credibility and it’s your credibility that will let you earn money from your site long-term.

To begin this article I would like to state my displeasure with the overall marketing concept for information products and online business manuals. I hope this is not a case of sour grapes that I am discussing at this point but it is hard to say since I have not tasted any of the pie in the sky that has been promised to me if I would just buy this one product that takes care of everything. Why a homeless person picked up off the streets was even able to get a slice. Yeah sour grapes I think so. I know when I have stumbled on or cleverly been led to one of these miracle products by first of all the hook, Max I just had to share this with you or you better hurry before they are all snatched up. I believe I could turn this little segment into a comedy act of similarly twisted opening lines but I will spare you. Then it is the repetition of statements that never tell you a thing but sure get you excited like you have to have this without even knowing what it is. Next would be the tell tell website design that rolls on like a never ending scroll filled with one hundred thousand bulleted points of interest, fifty thousand testimonials of people whose life this product has saved, not to forget the two million bonuses that are all free just for me if I order right now.

One last point before I level the playing field, in all instances you must first submit your e-mail and verify you want to receive information. Now I know the experts advise that most people will not buy a product until you have made seven or eight contacts or reminders but for me by this time that persons name is memorized and hatefully sent to the trash folder. Am I different, probably, still I am annoyed by the insinuation that I am not capable of making a decision. As I stated in the previous article I am trusting my gut feelings and sometimes it goes against what the experts of marketing teach.

Now with that said the good and bright side is that most of the products and information being marketed is quality and useful stuff that most definitely can benefit a newbie such as myself. Although I have noticed quite a few copy cat items and once the product or information is available a ton of people attempt to command your attention for it. Thus I guess is the whole grass roots of the marketing business. Find a quality product, present it to your marketing audience or list, and hope that you have done your campaign perfectly so an individual will purchase only from you in spite of the other offers because you have made them feel comfortable, confident, and like a brother or sister to them. A sort of loyalty thing and a good marketer does exactly that. Hats off to them!

The next item I feel is important and I know I am still far away from how my online business is progressing but a total understanding of where I stand is crucial for insight into why some decisions were made, is the concept of after the product, information, or training course is purchased follow up. Of course there is the obligatory autoresponse of thank you for purchasing this item. I get a real impersonal feeling when I read please do not respond to this e-mail. It’s like, hey, just yesterday you were my best friend with all the concerned e-mails about missing out on this once in a life time opportunity, what happened. And worst of all the next e-mail starts the cycle over with something like if you thought the last product was righteous, wait until you see what I have for you now. Geez, I wish I would have waited and bought this one. Autoresponders I suppose are necessary but I believe in the long run much damage is being heaped upon this area and phase of marketing. Since I don’t have a true understanding of how swamped one must get with real success, I am most likely off base when I state that some personal contact and follow up would go a long way toward building that brotherly love thing I spoke of earlier. Am I laying out a course of disaster? Time will tell.

For the reasons above I chose affiliate marketing as my profit making endeavor and hopefully in my next article I will explain more of my thought process for this choice. I also plan to get in to my preparation, research, commitment, and overall plan for my online business. I will also boldly state where I believe my shortcomings and lack of preparation stand in this endeavor.

I’m sure by now you are starting to form an opinion about my chances for success. In the hostile work environment I have often stated, if you can dish it out you’d better be able to take it. I inadvertently humble myself at least once a day, if you have a comment to share there is nothing personal here just laying it out there. Please look for my next article and wishes of success for all.