On Sunday I watched for the second time Kung Fu Panda an animated action comedy by Dreamworks.  I realised there are a lot of things that whoever just started his Business or just delved in the world of SEO & Online Marketing can learn so I jotted some notes down and ended up writing this post.

1. Follow Your Dreams

In this movie PO represents most of us, a person with big dreams who everyone else thinks he would fail. His father tells him that his destiny lies in making noodles and that he should give up on his dreams.  We are all familiar with over protective parents who think they know best for us and tell us not to dream big because we might fail.  They do it with the best intentions, however what they don’t realize is that they are dream stoppers.  Starting and building an online business is not easy, and having a 6 figure income seems far fetched to most but that shouldn’t be a reason to kill your dreams.  Follow your dreams.

2. Quit, don’t quit? Noodles, don’t noodles?

There will be times that you will have a lot of doubts about yourself and what you’re doing, it’s only natural.  If you never started a business you’re a charting in unknown territories, you don’t always understand what’s going on or why.  Stick with it, be strong and keep aiming at reaching your goal, whether it is to become the dragon warrior or become a successful Internet Marketer.  Build your confidence, ask for help, use your influence. Another quote from this movie is “A real warrior never quits!“.  If you’re a winner, failure is not an option. PO didn’t quit, even when the Furious Five laughed at him, he kept on going, even when Master Shifu tried his best to make him give up, he didn’t quit, in time he proofed them wrong, he earned their respect and the Furious Five bowed to him.

3. There is no secret ingredient.

There is a lesson to be learned from the scene where PO’s father tells him that the secret ingredient in the Secret Ingredient Soup is NOTHING. This is so true in Internet Marketing.  You will encounter thousands of products claiming that they have “The Secret Ingredient” that will make you successful instantly. This is the most overused word in Internet Marketing and I understand why.  The word secret creates intrigue and implies that you don’t know something which only a selected few know and this will make you want to be part of the selected group and buy the product. Try to analyze what they’re saying before youbuy their products.  If they are telling you they can teach you the secrets to internet marketing and their site is not even listed in the Alexa top 100,000 my suggestion to you is to close the window.  If you are going to learn, learn from someone who has already did it, companies like Stompernet who not only teach, but do.  They own very successful e-commerce sites and they know what they’re talking about.  Follow experience, not B.S.

4. There Is No Bad News, There is Only News

Things are the way you look at them. Even if things go bad, you aren’t getting any hits or making few sales, it’s not the end of the world. You haven’t failed. As a matter of fact, from now on, stop using the word failure and use the word Feedback.  Feedback is a metric you can use to optimize and improve what you are doing.  Without a doubt this applies to SEO and Internet Marketing.  I can sum up what the industry is based in 3 things, an endless cycle.

5. Fight with honor, or you will perish

No matter how good you are at selling online, don’t be sleazy and sell lame products just because they have a high conversion rate.  Choose products that will benefit your customers and make you money, everyone loves a win, win situation.  In the long run this will make you more money, the lifetime value of a customer is worth much more than 1 sale.  If you sell a good product, customers will talk about your product which means more prospects or more sales.  There’s nothing better than an army of loyal customers talking about your product. Be honorable and create value.

6. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.

If you’re driving into the future while looking in the rear-view mirror you’re going to crash, no matter how smart you are.  The past does not equal the future, your history is not your destiny. Everyday and every moment can be a time of change.  Today you might stumble upon an opportunity that yesterday you didn’t think about or know about. Move forward, even if you aren’t getting the results you want it.  My mentor John Di Lemme once told me, if you fall, make sure you fall forward, at least you’ll get a couple more inches on your journey, then get up and keep moving forward.

7. You must believe

Believe in yourself, believe in your ability, believe in your skills and believe you can do it.

Tagged as: internet marketing, kung fu panda