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Mike Antoni Manifesto

I’ve had a whirlwind month. I decided to go back to school so I can reach my ultimate dream of getting an MBA degree. It’s not always fun, but it is exciting. Beyond that, I met a girl back in December and as of this weekend, we’re now officially “together”. It’s a rather exciting time to say the least.

And this has caused me to really focus on what I’ve been doing, what I want to be doing, and how I can better serve my customers. (Hopefully that’s you). So, I’m writing this just to sort of reach out to you and hopefully give you a little insight into what I’ve been thinking.

What Makes Life Worth Living Anyway?

If you really are into this whole making money on the internet thing, odds are you have a reason for it. And if you’re like me, it’s just because you like money. Sure, money is awesome. I heard someone say the other day, “I don’t like money, I like the way it spends.” Made me chuckle. But let’s get serious here for a minute.

The real reason you want to work from home, or make a lot of money is so you can do more things with your family, right? Right now, I am really enjoying myself because my business runs even when I’m not around. I spent Sunday at Epcot in Disney with my girlfriend. While I was there having a blast, my business brought money in for me automatically.

Even as I write this from the comfort of my home, I have lots of automatic ways of making money online. And that’s great for me right? I’m gonna make another assumption here. I’d bet you’ve been trying to make money on the internet for a while. You’ve probably bought a lot of stuff and tried a few different things.

But no matter how hard you’ve tried, things just don’t seem to work out for you. And there’s a good reason for that.

Perception vs. Reality (The Internet Marketing Game)

In life, there is no absolute reality experienced by everyone. We all see with our eyes and then use our brains to “perceive” what just happened. That’s why 5 people can see the same car accident and give 5 different accounts of what happened. Sometimes, they can’t even agree on the color of the cars involved!

In reality, (pun intended) perception is what we go by. But how does this apply to Internet Marketing. Here’s how: The “gurus” and the internet marketing stars sell a dream. They don’t mean to. I will be honest and say I even do it myself. I’ve been doing this whole business thing since 2006. So when I say something is easy… it is – TO ME.

But to you, it probably isn’t. But common sense will tell you that you can’t sell something as “hard, difficult to learn, and very time consuming.” Who wants to buy that, right? So, we focus on the easy aspects, the parts that we like doing. But I am convinced that internet marketers put blinders on to the “reality” of the situation.

When we create a new business, we work like dogs. We are putting together all these different pages, contacting vendors, joint venture partners, writing copy, getting graphics done, working on the flow of the sales process. I mean, there is A LOT. But we sort of just “do it”. And guess what? When you’re done with it, everything really does sort of just happen and go “easy”.

But we tend to forget about the work, the hard part…the stuff we do that goes unnoticed by the masses that really creates the money. And this is the part that you don’t get to see and we don’t talk about.

How Much Money Do You Need?

I listen to Tony Robbins a lot. Really love his stuff. And he talked about how most people want to get “rich” when they don’t really need to. They just need to get enough money to cover their living expenses. Just imagine how you would feel if you brought in enough money each month to cover your house payment,electric, water, you car payment, insurance, and gas, food, credit card payments, or whatever else you had to pay for each month.

Now imagine if you could do that without a J.O.B.

Sounds pretty awesome right?

I’ve been able to do that for 5 years now. It hasn’t always been easy. And some years I make WAY more than other years. But overall, it’s been an awesome ride.

A New Way Of Internet Marketing

I’ve really taken a step back and looked at my life. And as I do that, I realize that I haven’t been “living” like I should. What I mean is that I’ve been very work focused. I guess that’s the nature of life in America. We are definitely trained to work. And I’m not saying I’m not gonna work and create like I’ve been doing.

But I am changing my priorities. I’ll be spending a lot more time with my girlfriend now. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a lot of plans (in my head) to travel with her. I’ll spend more time with my family, and I’ll focus on the things I want to do, not just my business.

And I will work less hours than I’ve ever worked before. And I plan on doing it by giving away more value than I ever have before. And I want to pass that value onto you.

I don’t want to go into it all here right now, I’ll put up a page soon to explain everything to you. I’ve got something in mind that I think you will absolutely love. It’s not meant to get you rich, it’s just meant to help you get started, make money, and eventually replace your day job so you can do what you want with your life.

That’s my new manifesto now.

I want to help people do what they want to do with their lives… even when they aren’t sure how.

Here’s How You Can Be Involved

I feel like I’ve poured out a lot in this post. And I’d love to hear from you. Please take a second right now and leave me a comment. Let me know WHY you want to make more money. Tell me about your dreams, about the things you want to do with your family. Tell me about a new love you have in your life… or the love you’ve had for years.

I just want to hear from you and connect with you on a deeper personal level. I want to know what makes you get up in the morning, and what keeps you going.

I want to hear your story. Tell me what you want and what you’re willing to do to get it… as long as you have someone to help show you the way.

I can’t wait to hear from you. God bless!

Marketing In A Recession

is this recession real? how does it affect your bottom line?I’ve been consulting with a local business the last few weeks. I may help them with bringing a lot of their marketing online and getting them on facebook, twitter, and google. The unholy trifecta. But, that’s not what this article is about. I arrived a little early for our meeting and my local business guy was working with a customer.

I had to wait about 5 minutes while he finished up with this client. What I heard was absolutely awesome. It made my day, and perhaps even my whole week. My client’s business is golf. But not just any kind of golf, he actually tweaks golf clubs, heads, and grips and guarantees to take strokes off your game JUST from changing your clubs.

And from what I’ve seen, it works. I’m gonna have to get my clubs out again and get my “tweaks” so I can hit the golf course in style soon enough. But, that’s not what this article’s about either. Here’s what it IS about.

As I waited for my meeting I watched as a couple looked over the clubs, got measured, picked out grips, and got themselves ready to make a purchase.  Remember, they were paying for tweaking a handful of clubs. When the bill came due it was $580. Did the couple flinch and complain about a recession? Did they ask about the unemployment rate? Did they question the price “in this economy”.

Nope. The lady busted out her checkbook and started writing. And when it was all said and done the couple left. And they left happy. They’ll be back in a few days to pick up their new and improved golf clubs.

So, the first question we need to ask ourselves is this one…

Is There A Recession In The USA?

Answer: Technically yes. There is. There, I said it. But that doesn’t mean what you may think it means. No matter the economy, the situation, or whatever, there is always a group of people ready and willing to spend money on what they want. That’s the nature of us humans. Do some people save a little extra money or cut back? Sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t turn a profit in this market place.

You’ve got to go where the money is. Every market has it’s best buyers. The wealthy, the affluent, the dedicated. The nut. Whatever you want to call him. That’s where the money is. So instead of focusing on those who AREN’T buying, focus on those who are.

How To Make Money In A Recession

You make money in a recession just like you do any other time of economic season. You make sure you have a product or service you’d sell your own Mom and you do your best to make it affordable to the most amount of people possible. Or, you increase the price and you focus on making more money per sale. You really have those two options. Both are ok, but I personally like bringing prices down and increasing the amount of people I sell to.

In the Intenet Marketing industry, where I run several businesses, I am focusing more on providing FREE content up front, really delivering value. And wherever possible, I am making money with advertising and sponsors as opposed to direct selling. This is something I chose to do because I want to get the word out on how to make money in this recession to a lot more people.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t sell products, beacause I do. One idea I ask myself is this:

What value added service can I throw into this offer to make it a real no brainer purchase for the customer?

In my last product I ended up adding on a complete website setup and install. My customers LOVE IT and it’s something I can do for them. It just takes a little more time, but with my team already in place I don’t have to spend as much in cash.

Calm Your Recession Fears

Whenever I talk with customers or clients, some of them bring up the F word. Fear. They’re scared. And I understand that. Any uncertainty can lead way to fear. But, here’s what’s really important. Don’t focus on what you don’t have. Focus on what you do have. Imagine if you turned on the news and every night you heard this instead of the usual negativity.

Great news tonight. The employment rate today hit 90.8%. More than 9 out of every 10 people are working and being productive.

Wouldn’t that be cool. I’m sure if we started talking about the EMPLOYMENT rate instead of the UNEMPLOYMENT rate, just that would have a positive impact on our situation.

So here’s what I want you to come away with from this article. Out there, everyday, there are millions of people spending money on what they want. They don’t care what the news says. They have a hobby, or a business, or something they want to do and they are willing to spend money on it.

Your job is to sell to these people. There’s money everywhere. As a matter of fact, money never vanishes, never dies. When the stock market goes down, that money doesn’t leave. It goes to the people who bet on it crashing! The same amount of money is here today that was here yesterday. And tomorrow too.

Go after the market you want. Appeal to desire. People are spending money. Why don’t you get in on the action?

The Fall And The Get Back Up

As the soap opera says, we have one life to live. One chance to spread our wings and fly high. We all don’t start out at the same place. Some of us are born to wealthy parents, some of us are born to poor parents, heck, some of us have no parents at all. Whatever the case, it’s important to realize that no, life isn’t fair.

If it was, we’d all start at the same place with the exact same resources. But of course, that’s not how life is. But the good news is this. We all have the opportunity to make our lives better. We aren’t stuck anywhere. We truly can look within ourselves and decide what we want. And if we REALLY want it, we can go after it with all we have.

I meet people in my life everyday, and within just a few moments of talking to them I can tell what kind of person they are. There are really only two types of people. Those who think they can, and those who think they can’t. I call it the 5 letter operator. What five letter word are you operating by? FAITH? or DOUBT?

Faith people believe they can, they focus on the good, the positive, the hope, the dream.

Doubt people believe they can’t (or won’t!), they focus on the bad, the negative, the worry, the problem.

My favorite example of that is theworld class  boxer Floyd Patterson. Floyd was widely known as the boxer who got knocked down the most. Imagine being known as that? In his career, he was knocked down more than any other fighter in the history of boxing. But guess what? When asked about what it was like being knocked down so many times he said this:

They said I was the fighter who got knocked down the most, but I also got up the most. – Floyd Patterson

How’s that for focus? The only way to be the fighter who got knocked the most is to get up the most. And that may be where you’re at right now. Maybe you’ve been knocked down so many times you want to just give in and give up.

Well, that happens sometimes. Life gives us a swift kick in the you know what and we sort of just fall over and throw ourselves a little pity party. And that’s ok, for a day. Maybe two. But, the greatest secret I ever learned is that no matter what happens, no matter how bad it looks, or how hard it seems…

GET BACK UP!

If you never give up, you cannot lose. Your focus, your drive, your enthusiasm, your humor, your talents…no one can take these from you. God gave you these gifts and they are yours to use as you wish. As Brian Tracy says,

You are the President of your own life. – Brian Tracy

You’re the president of your health, your finances, your relationships, your spirituality, everything. It’s at once a liberating and fearful thing. Want to know what kind of decision maker you are? Look around. Your life is the direct result of the decisions you’ve been making. Want to know why your finances are what they are? Look no further than yourself and the choices you’ve made.

You are the living, breathing, walking, talking, life sized version of yesterdays decisions. -Mike Antoni

And that’s GREAT NEWS. Because today is tomorrow’s yesterday. Make the choice that you aren’t going to settle for letting life happen around you. Accept that you are the President of your own company, You, Inc. You are blessed and you are capable. And if you’ve been knocked down in the past, that means you don’t give up. Keep getting back up, keep fighting. Go after what you want.

You are in control. This is your life, and it’s time for your to live it.

UPDATE:

Thanks to Steve for sharing this video with us. It puts our lives in perspective and goes along with this article perfectly.