Getting Unstuck: Breaking Down the Walls

I think I’ve probably re-written this first paragraph half a dozen times. That’s because I’ve got something very important to share. A few days ago, after having a big personal breakthrough, I realized I’ve got an idea that might mean a huge breakthrough for you, too. Huge.

The challenge is I realize you’ve been inundated with email and sales letters hyping products that will ‘revolutionize Internet marketing’ and instantly make you fabulously wealthy. Don’t worry. When I say, “huge breakthrough”, I’m not leading you down the path to the thousand dollar order form.

This all started as a result of a bunch of emails I’ve been getting. Emails that look a lot like this one…

Dear Bill,

I’m one of those people you talk about on your blog sometimes. I’ve been to three or four Internet marketing seminars, have spent thousands on ebooks, courses and coaching programs aimed to teach me how to start an online business. Now I’m $30,000 in debt and have spent all our savings.

I’m a widow living on a fixed income and have to take care of my ailing parents. I’m willing to work hard but don’t know what to do. Can you help me?

Signed,

Desperate

Desperate indeed. Now that was a fictitious example of the kind of email that shows up in my in-box all the time. Some of them are heartbreaking. The amount of debt usually varies. So does the age and sex of the sender. But this is an issue that doesn’t seem to discriminate.

So what IS the problem?

For one thing, I don’t think it’s due to lack of information. For some, it may be the lack of a good business coach or mentor but I’m not sure that’s really the issue, either.

I’ve seen people in my classes fail, too, and it’s not due to lack of info or a good coach. Many students just simply stopped showing up. Sometimes after just one or two lessons.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to one or two causes:

1. You’re overwhelmed by all the technical details (setting up a website, shopping cart, download page, affiliate program, autoresponders, etc.)
2. You’ve got a subconscious mental block.
3. All of the above.

When it comes to the tech side of web marketing, I’ve been lucky. I’ve always been intrigued by that stuff even though it does frustrate me at times. I’ll do research online, buy an ebook or hire an expert to help me solve the problem.

As for the mental block, that’s certainly something I can relate to.

Mental blocks to success are certainly something I’ve covered in this space before. It’s an ongoing struggle for me and one of the reasons I work with a really good therapist & coach, Gaea Logan.

Gaea helps me understand and eliminate the things that hold me back. Recently, we discovered that a brief conversation I had with my Dad over 35 years ago was having a huge negative impact on my finances.

My Dad married my Mom and adopted me when I was five. Dad grew up on a farm in Missouri with two younger brothers. I won’t go into details but let’s just say he had a very rough childhood.

One day, when I was around ten or eleven, he started talking to me about how when he first married my Mom, I was spoiled rotten. “Your closet was packed with toys. Some of them weren’t even opened yet. You had toys that you weren’t even old enough to play with yet.”

I can still hear him as though it was yesterday. The words above don’t really convey his tone. He spoke with undisguised disgust in his voice.

I was reminded of that conversation about seven years ago when my sister, Misty, was pregnant with Zack, her first child. My Dad announced that he’d already had a custom set of golf clubs made for Zack. That’s when I immediately recalled his words from the past…

You had toys that you weren’t even old enough to play with yet.”

Dad buying golf clubs for a kid that hasn’t even been born? What’s wrong with this picture?

This stirred up a lot of old feelings but after the initial shock, I did some thinking. Knowing Dad’s history, I realized that what I heard that day long ago was the voice of a jealous child that grew up without any toys of his own or much love.

I don’t think Dad was consciously aware of what he was saying, certainly not of the impact it would have. And it was only two days ago when I realized how this was affecting me today.

See, I’ve struggled with trying to find my own success blocks for a while now. I constantly read books to help me have a better understanding of how our minds work and how to be successful. I’ve read several books that discuss how early programming from our environment can cause success blocks that inhibit us all our lives. And I’ve talked to my Siglo IV friends and my friend Mark Ryan about it numerous times.

Usually, the programming consists of things revolving around ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ or ‘filthy rich’ and so on. While I did hear a lot of that sort of thing on television and in movies, these weren’t beliefs I believed I held.

I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. My Dad has run a successful business for years. And I practically grew up in the restaurant business with my Grandfather. We didn’t have as much wealth as many of the families I grew up around but I just looked at what they had as inspiration for what was possible not someone to blame for my own problems.

Yet I knew somewhere, I had a belief that was holding me back. And Wednesday, I found it.

I was in a session with Gaea. We were talking about success blocks and then moved on to another topic. Something came up that reminded me of the story about my Dad. Gaea had actually heard the story months ago but I brought it up again.

And she said, “There’s your block. The message you carried from that conversation was that it’s not OK to have things. ‘Having lots of of possessions means you’re bad’. Can you see that?”

As she spoke, I noticed tears running down her cheeks.

I said, “Wow, yeah, I’d never really thought of it that way before but it’s as clear as a bell now. As I’ve become more successful and accumulated more things, I’ve felt great but have also gone through all kinds of struggles based on something internal that I’ve been unable to understand. And that’s caused me to sabotage my success at times. But, Gaea, this seems to be making you more emotional than I am.”

Gaea said, “Actually, that started when I noticed you starting to tear up.” At first I wondered what she was talking about. Then I realized that despite the fact I didn’t feel it anywhere else in my body, tears were welling in my eyes.

She pointed out that here was the disconnect. As soon as I can own that feeling, I can release it. And no more block. And, if experience is any indicator, it won’t take long. In a week or two, maybe less, it’ll be history.

If you feel similar ‘programming’ is holding you back, I urge you to read books by authors like Joe Vitale, Anthony Robbins or Randy Gage. If possible, find a good therapist to help you work through these blocks.

I’m well aware of the damage these blocks can do. And it’s my mission to do what I can to find a path through this. I’ve also found one solution that may help you right away, especially those of you struggling with making money.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been working with Nelson Duffle on his website makeover. From the beginning, I’ve felt like his product would be a hit with copywriters and copywriting students. But as I interviewed Nelson and heard more about the process he teaches in his ebook, I realized that he’s offering a possible solution to many of you that are stuck regardless of whether or not you’re a copywriter.

This isn’t another Internet marketing course. It isn’t expensive. And it’s not something I’ve seen anyone else talk about. Prior to meeting Nelson, I didn’t realize that gigs like this were readily available.

See Nelson explained to me that anyone that has any basic writing ability that follows the instructions in his book, can find a company willing to pay them $800 to $1,000 to write the copy for a simple brochure. And with a few of these projects under your belt, you could start moving up to the higher paying projects with Fortune 500 companies.

Although I didn’t know about the corporate market, I know Nelson’s right because I started in a similar way. In December of 2001, I was hired by a guy I met on eBay to do my first writing project. I was paid $1,000 to write a sales letter for an herbal supplement he was offering plus another $1,000 a week later to write a series of simple follow-up emails.

I’d charge $10,000 or more to write a sales letter today but at the time, for someone with no experience, I was thrilled to get the work. Had I known then what I’ve learned from Nelson, I would have struggled far less those first couple of years in the business. See, it was a long time before I found my next copywriting gig because I had no idea where to look for new clients.

Besides being perfect for those of you that have struggled with Internet marketing, this is perfect for those of you that are intimidated by the tech side of things.

You don’t have to know how to build a website, how to format an ebook, how to setup a shopping cart or anything like that. All project managers like Nelson will require from you are words. If you can write in Microsoft Word, you’ve got all the tech skills you need.

For that reason, I urge you to order Nelson’s ebook.

If the reason you got interested in Internet marketing was just a way to supplement your existing income, escape a job you can’t stand or find a way to work from home, this is just the ticket. Granted, you won’t be making passive income as you would selling ebooks but you will gain the freedom of working from anywhere you’d like and setting your own hours.

Plus, you don’t have to have start-up money like you would putting up a website biz.

For those skeptics in the audience that think I’m just recommending this to make a buck, let me point out something. In the past several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to promote several high-cost Internet marketing courses. At least one of those would have paid me a whopping $800 per sale!

But you didn’t hear about those programs because I either didn’t feel they were a good value or a good match for you. Or in some cases, I wasn’t allowed to see the product in advance to review it.

So, while I will earn a commission if you buy Nelson’s book, I’d have to sell dozens to equal what I’d earn from a single sale of those other courses. I just truly believe this book is just the ticket for those of you that aren’t yet making big money (or any money) online.

You can find Nelson’s ebook, How to Make a Fortune Writing for Fortune 500 Companies” by clicking here.

I also want you to remind you of what I said earlier. I’ll be devoting a lot more attention to helping you break through those mental blocks. I’m not a therapist and I don’t play one on TV. However, I’ll be glad to share what I learn along the way.

Next week, at Gaea and Mark Ryan’s urging, I’ll be starting a new 30-day experiment. It may become the topic of my next book. I’ll be blogging about it so you can follow along. It might be here or on a new blog setup exclusively for the experiment. Either way, I’ll let you know in the next few days.

As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. Please leave your comments below.