A question for anyone that reads this blog. Do you take your business seriously? If so, how serious? The type of publishers coming into C2M lately seems to be on a more positive track than the previous months of our startup. One of the things I have always encouraged publishers to do is simply go to events. Listen, I was marketing and toying about online for 3 years before I went to my first event. That first event (while it was pretty shitty) completely changed me. It opened my eyes to just how big online marketing is, is going to get and ultimately the way I went about my business.

No more did I become a hermit trying things on my own. While there is no secret to success and doing things on your own is the ONLY way you will ever succeed online, events are a damn good little sidekick of knowledge that can propel you further and faster than you thought possible. I’m serious when I say that if you simply come up with excuses to not make events, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. You are literally hampering your business which in turn makes you the type that doesn’t take your business seriously. That’s not to say you cant be successful but limiting yourself to the knowledge found online is just ridiculous knowing what I have learned at events.

Do you network productively?

One of the most common things I see everyday from even my closest friends online is the use of their time. I’ve seen some of the most talented people in the world piss away half their day making contacts on Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin…blah blah blah. Nobody gives a shit how big your friend or contact list is. How many of them actually effect your bottom line at the very moment? You want REAL business relationships that effect your business in a positive manner. I love the excuses I hear when I drill people about this. I dont do it to be just an asshole, I know far too much about wasting time online. I hear things like “I’m networking”, “I’m building a contact list”. Ok, let me give you a crash course in effective networking.

If the people you meet do not in some way positively affect the way you do business then this contact is of no use. Ya feel me? Now if you want to be a nice guy and just add them as a friend then ok but that’s still a waste of time. Anything that DOES NOT effect how you do business is a waste of time. Excuses for wasting time such as these are the ULTIMATE waste of time.

Are you informed with the industry?

This industry and the many arms of it can literally change over night. To me it’s an irritating disappointment when associating or working with people who have zero clue what’s going on in the industry. Start giving a shit by reading forums and blogs that are in the same boat as you. Small changes can mean huge investments, losses or increased income but you will never know about them in the fastest time possible if you have no idea or do not care what is going on in your industry.

These are just a few things I personally notice each day from people I talk to. Take your business seriously and it will evolve on its own. Picking up useful ideas from what other people put out there is the best way to leverage the 24 hours god allows you each day. If you are not using this to its fullest advantage, then your gonna be that person a year from now that has spent $10,000.00 and has nothing to show for it. Trust me, I have been there and it wasn’t until I took a long hard look at myself and the way I treated my business that I learned more efficient ways to build more businesses and ultimately increase my cash flow.

So do you take your business seriously? If not, what do you think you could do differently that will help propel you to the next level faster?