Do you think it’s unproductive when you’re lying in bed thinking or when you’re developing your next marketing line of attack as you’re driving through traffic?

Do you sometimes feel guilty that you’re not actually “working” because you’re simply thinking about different strategies to implement in your business or your life?

If you believe that thinking is a waste of time, you’re not alone. In fact, I used to be the same way. Too many people feel like they need to be DOING something to earn money.

You know the drill. We’re told that we have to take action to be successful. That’s true, of course, but it’s only part of the equation.

Listen, is it possible to sit on the beach with your laptop and rake in tons of cash from a single e-mail? Of course it is, but before you get too excited about that thought, get a grip on reality. That kind of lifestyle doesn’t materialize overnight. What nobody wants to talk about—but I’m going to do it anyway—is all the hard work it takes to get there.

How do you get started?

It’s simple. One single thought. That’s right. Every successful company ever built began because someone dared to think about it. You might even be laughed at or criticized for what you’re thinking, but don’t let that discourage you. Lay the foundation. Invest in your mind, and your business should prosper.

Maybe your brain is already buzzing with all kinds of ideas. Where do you begin? That’s up to you to decide. Make a plan. Write it down. What are you going to do today? Next week? Next year? If a thought is worthy of action, get off your butt and take action on it right now. Fail forward, keep things moving, and don’t lose momentum.

You need to schedule time each day to brainstorm, to mull over ideas, and to let your thoughts take you as far as you want them to go. Don’t edit your thinking. Just do it. This is part of the evolution of your business.  Put a price on your thoughts, I do.

So what about the person who thinks he doesn’t have good, money-making ideas? Most people who don’t believe they have good ideas buried within them simply don’t expose themselves to the great thinking of others.

For your thought-life to be truly stirred up, you need to consistently expose your mind to only three things:

1. People
2. Books
3. Other Marketers’ Marketing

Let’s not stop there. You need to know why these three things are critical. I’ll start with people.

It’s very important to expose yourself to different types of people and different viewpoints. By doing this, your mind becomes more creative by default. Not only that, but you become a more well-rounded person. Let me tell you a couple of things about myself: I’m a Christian and a Republican.

Some might even call me a wacky, Right Wing crazy person, but actually that’s not the case at all. I’m not closed-minded; I always make an effort to listen to the “other” side. In fact, every Friday night, I set my DVR to record Bill Maher on HBO. Why would I do this? Because I know that it’s very important to know what the Liberals are talking about and what they are thinking. And even though I’m not a Liberal, I agree with what Bill has to say a decent amount of the time. Be careful not to ONLY expose yourself to viewpoints that validate your personal views.

Also, when I keep up with both sides of the political arena, it gives me a well-rounded perspective of what others are thinking. I also understand that every person has their own uniqueness. I respect that. If you put people in “boxes,” you’ll pay a price both personally and professionally.

Take note: Good marketers stay aware of what’s going on in the world around them. Think about it… Have you ever been around people who don’t expose themselves to new and different people and viewpoints? I know you have, and I’ll bet you were bored to tears with the same stories they told year in and year out. Funny, but these people will always tell you that they are open and receptive to new ideas and viewpoints while at the same time adamantly defending their own positions.

They can’t have it both ways. It’s like a weird, delusional world they live in. It’s their right to believe what they want to believe. But for me and other successful people I know, we keep ourselves exposed to new people and new ideas. That’s how we stay on top of our game.

But let’s go one step further. Remember the slogan, “Reading is fundamental”?

It’s even more fundamental to a successful business. To become an expert, you need to dedicate 10,000 hours to whatever it is you want to specialize in. I’m not talking about becoming a run-of-the-mill expert; they’re everywhere. I’m talking about becoming a world-class authority—someone who is in demand. When you get to this point, your thoughts become even more valuable because people will pay you to tell them what you think. See how this works?

I’ve noticed that the most interesting people in the world are avid readers. It’s true. Books keep your mind alive and also make you more interesting to others. Some people talk predictably about the same things—the weather, the sports scores, their crappy jobs—while others go beyond small talk and can converse for hours without mentioning the same thing twice. Be honest. Who would you rather spend an evening with?

Did you know that you can be ahead of 90% of all the marketers in the world today by reading 40 different marketing books three times a piece? (I may tell you what 40 in a later blog post.)

Do you know that there are people who write about their failures, so you don’t have to go through the same mistakes?

Do you now see the impact a good book can have?

The problem is that you can always find more reasons NOT to do something than you can to get off your butt and take action. Every excuse you make in life is a total waste energy. Read The Question Behind The Question and Flipping The Switch by John Miller, and you’ll never act like a pouting, whining, excuse-making crybaby ever again. That’s IF you take action on what you read.

Really, take time each day to invest in your mind. When you do this, your mind will become more creative than you ever imagined, and you’ll have more great ideas than you ever dreamed of having. I hope you grasp how important this is.

Did you know that with different Internet tools, you can spy on anyone doing business on the Internet at a very in-depth level?

You can know how they send e-mail, what they say in their e-mails, where they live, where their business is, their backend offers, their lead-in products, etc.

Do you think you’d be a better marketer if you picked 15 marketers and followed their every move?

Do you think you’d pick up great marketing tips and techniques?

Do you think you’d understand their entire business funnel?

Do you think you’d pick up golden nuggets to apply to your own business?

Of course you would! If you’re not doing this, start right now. To start, pick ONE person you really admire and do this…

Go to each of his or her sales pages and click VIEW SOURCE, and find out all the tools used on the pages. Clear your cookies and hit “refresh” to see if he is split-testing or doing multi-variate tests. If he is, keep clearing your cookies to expose all the tests and take notes.

If you’re smart, you’ll e-mail that marketer and set up a one-hour phone consultation and see if he’ll spill his guts on all the results. Buy every product he offers and actually watch or read what he’s offering. Pay attention to how the download process works or what’s in your package when it shows up in the mail.

Pay attention to the follow-up direct mail or e-mails that try to get you to buy more of what he is selling.

Find out who is linking to him in Google and Yahoo. If you find people linking to him or promoting affiliate links for him, sign up for THEIR lists to see HOW they are promoting them and what they’re saying.

There you go–five easy steps you can take right now to get some perspective on other people’s marketing processes.

I’ve discussed a lot here. You may even be wondering what this has to do with the thinking process. The answer is EVERYTHING. Do you realize how much more creative you’ll be if you actally take action on what I just talked about? Your mind will be buzzing with so many new ideas and strategies that your business world will open up to limitless possibilities.

Ready to put on your thinking cap? If so, grab a glass of your favorite beverage, put on some jazz if you need to, and just do it. Do whatever it takes. Create your perfect environment, have a notepad close by, and just think!

Now, start planning personal time to just sit down with a notepad in peace. Once you set your thoughts in motion, shoot me an e-mail and tell me about the results. Your experience could help someone else go out there in the marketing world and prosper, which—if you really think about it—could be your first step to raking in tons of cash while you’re sitting on that beach you’ve been thinking about.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 9:47 pm and is filed under Making Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.