I want to share with you a story.  It’s a story that is a really great example of where networking and developing relationships can really help open doors for your career.

It was May of 2007 when I saw a post in an online marketing forum. It was a post for somebody that had an extra ticket for an Internet marketing seminar called JV Alert that they were looking to sell.  Since JV Alert was in the Philadelphia area that year and I live in the Philly suburbs, I was already planning to attend.

It turns out that jvAlert was running a promotion then that if you signed up early, they’d give you two tickets for the price of one. The problem was, this gentleman wasn’t planning on bringing a guest with him.

So he had an extra ticket that he couldn’t use. If somebody else could use the other ticket, that would be great.  If he could make back a few bucks that he paid for the tickets initially, that would be even better because money was a bit tight for him at the time.

So I mentioned to him about a copywriting forum that might be of interest to him, and where he might want to mention the extra ticket for sale.

The reason being was Michel Fortin, a very famous copywriter, was speaking at JV Alert that year.  I figured there was a good chance that some copywriter would want to see Fortin’s presentation.

Sure enough, someone on the copywriting forum board saw his note and bought the ticket.

That guy whose ticket I helped sell, he bought me a beer on the first night of the seminar.  We talked for awhile and the next day I invited him to join a few other friends for a cheesesteak run to the world famous Pat’s Steaks.

Over lunch, he revealed that he was living in a tiny apartment in Spanish Harlem, and trying to survive on a just as tiny monthly stipend. Before that, he had spent a year in Haiti doing volunteer and humanitarian work.

Right away, I could tell he was different.  He had a real passion when he talked about copywriting and creating his own infoproducts.  He talked about using his infoproducts sales to help worthy charities get the funds they needed to keep up their great work.

I started getting a strong gut feeling that this guy might be onto something.  Here was a guy who had a burning desire for success… and still wanted to help those who were less fortunate than him to enjoy a better life.

Turns out, I was right.

About a month later, I start hearing that he’s really opening the eyes of the top dogs in the internet marketing field.  He’s got created some great products that are selling like hotcakes.  He’s getting quite a buzz as a copywriter too.

So we continue to stay in touch by e-mail, even talk by phone at times too. In 2008, he interviewed me for one of his infoproducts… an interview that has generated alot of free publicity for my business.

He’s continued to do even bigger and more amazing things, to the point where now, I’m happy to tell people that I’m glad I became friends with Brian McElroy long before many people started calling him one of the fastest up-and-coming stars in the online information marketing arena.

Here are some of the results Brian produced in less than 2 years:

- Raised $3000 for a local charity simply by running a special offer in the Warrior Forum

- Generated over half a million dollars in revenue in his FIRST YEAR as a copywriter

- Made over $34,000 on a product launch from the Amazon rainforest… without internet access!

- Helped raise over $100,000 for the village where he lived in Haiti

- Created $156,598.00 in revenue from a brand new niche business… in just 3 months!

If it sounds like Brian is an amazing person, you would be right.

In fact, he decided to give back to the online marketing field that has helped him so much… and he’s doing it by offering some free training.

You can get Brian’s free training here:

http://michaelhumphreys.com/recommends/BrianInfo

You’ll discover things like…

- How Brian went from learning HTML by candlelight to generating over $500,000 in sales in his first year
as a copywriter

- How to get paid for everything you do, anytime you want, faster and easier than you ever thought possible!

- How one successful offer can literally change your life!

- How to create VALUABLE information products in 24 hours or less… even if you’re NOT an expert!

This training is still available as I type this email…

… but I know it’s coming down soon!

To get access to Brian’s free training, make sure you go
here now:

http://michaelhumphreys.com/recommends/BrianInfo

Enjoy!

To Your Success,

Mike

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I was straightening up my desk today and happened to look at my desk calendar.  That was when I realized that 2009 is almost halfway over.

I quickly did a mental review of the goals I set for this year.  A few of them I had already achieved.  I’m on pace to meet some additional ones before years-end.  There’s also a few goals that I’m miles away from reaching this year.

The goals that you have already achieved can be a tremendous confidence booster. So can the ones that you can honestly say you’re on track to reaching.

It’s the ones that you set the bar too high that can really squash your spirits… if you let them.

Many people will automatically put themselves down for missing the mark… that’s why the cliche “I am my own worst enemy” holds a lot of truth for them.

That’s a huge mistake!

Tearing yourself down will only knock your self-confidence even lower and make it much more difficult to achieve all of your goals.

Instead, take the time to reassess each goal that looks like you won’t meet this year.

Ask yourself these questions:

1) Did I set an unrealistic goal? If so, readjusting the goal to a more realistic level could be a great decision to make.

2) Did something happen that was out of my control and prevented me from reaching my goal? Don’t put the blame on yourself for missing a goal if it wasn’t your fault.  Sometimes life truly does hand us lemons.  It’s best to acknowledge that something happened that was out of your control.

Let me give you a great example.

When 2008 started, I had set a big goal for my personal income.  My consulting and info-product businesses were doing very well, so I honestly felt I had a really good chance to have my best year ever financially.

That was before my then-pregnant wife was in a really bad car accident in March. Then she gave birth to our son in May.  The good news is both of them are completely fine.

Unfortunately, I had to massively cut down my work load for almost 5 months to help my wife care for our children and assist her recovery.  That meant I had literally no shot of reaching my big yearly goal.  While I felt “bad” about missing my big goal, I quickly dismissed the bad feelings because I knew I did the right thing by being there for my wife and children during their time of need.  After all, it wasn’t my fault that some idiot slid his car across the highway and in front of my wife’s Honda Odyssey.  It wasn’t my fault that his recklessness caused a major accident that totaled both vehicles and could have killed several people, including the idiot driver.

This was truly something that happened that was 100% out of my control so I made the best of a bad situation.  Truth be told, my family means more to me than making any amount of money in the world.  I was actually more upset about my loved ones being hurt by someone else than my big goal being placed out of my reach.

3) What can I do or do differently to reach that goal? Ask yourself: is it a matter of needing more information or a better strategy to reach your goal?  If it’s needing more information, then start looking for that information.

If it’s a matter of strategy, then take 30 minutes and sit down in a quiet place and brainstorm.  You’ll be surprised by the number of great ideas or even a step-by-step plan your mind will produce.

In closing, I’d like to encourage you to use the last “half” of 2009 to do your best and reach even more of your goals. Because if you do, it’s a massive confidence builder and a great way to begin 2010!

Until next time,

Mike

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