How to improve your efficiency

Miscellaneous Off-Topic/General Chat
#1

The following email was sent to me from deanhunt.com to which I had singed up a long time ago.



The following email should provide those that visit the forum an insight on what you can do to improve your business efficiently. Those who may take offence, no offence intended (the title said it already).

Lastly, we’re all here for a business reason so I’m not advocating to leave the forum due to the following content.



====================================================

I promised that today I would tell you how to double your productivity

and I am going to fulfill that promise.



However, before we get to the juicy stuff, I just want to point out

that I am going to do something that no other marketing guru would

EVER do…



I am going to admit my mistakes



So here goes…



I, Dean Hunt, have wasted a LOT of time on the Internet.



I want to ensure that you do not fall into the same trap as me, so

today I am going to show you how just one factor can achieve all of this:



[B]* How to avoid the sheep mentality


  • How to avoid terrible advice


  • How to double your productivity


  • How to get REAL knowledge


  • I will share with you the story of Mr Big **** and how this guy could ruin your business


  • How to avoid Mr Big ****, and how to avoid becoming a Mr Big ****


  • The difference between perceived work and actual work


  • The difference between play success and real success


  • Why working hard is not work at all[/B]



    Disclaimer: What I am about to tell you may rattle your comfort zone.



    Ok, strap yourself in, this could get messy.



    The key to all of the above is…



    - Avoid using Internet business related forums -



    Once you have picked yourself up off the floor please allow me to explain:



    I am a member of MANY forums, many of these are related to marketing,

    SEO, Internet business etc… However, unless you are completely new to

    Internet Business, there is no need to spend time on these forums.



    There are many reasons for this, so bear with me…



    Firstly, the forums are like a farm, they are the perfect breeding ground

    for the “Sheep Mentality”. It is amazing how many people believe what

    they read on forums. This can be VERY dangerous to your financial health.



    The worst culprits for the sheep mentality are the SEO forums, people

    simply recycle the information they read from forums and then claim

    it as their own opinions. If you take the majority of your advice from

    forums, then you will become a victim of the sheeps mentality and

    mis-information.



    I was in Washington last week, and in future weeks I will discuss this

    in more detail, but let me tell you one amazing fact from my seminars.



    FACT: Not one of the experts at the Washington Seminar used Internet

    forums for information, nor did any of them post regularly on a business

    or marketing related forum.



    Is this the biggest coincidence of all time?



    No!



    These guys are worth tens of millions for a reason, they DON’T have

    the sheeps mentality.



    Think about it, if the information on these forums was so good, we

    would all be rich.



    The truth is that the VAST majority of these forums are NOT 8 figure

    earners.



    Whilst in Washington I met a guy called Ryan Deiss, he is a VERY

    impressive entrepreneur, and I discussed Internet forums with him

    at a restaurant. He told me that he NEVER visits forums, he learns

    from the best in the industry, he invests in his education and

    purchases ebooks, goes to seminars, and chats with the best on the net.

    He focuses on people who have been VERY successful, as opposed to

    only focusing on the people who have 1000+ posts.



    Here is what Ryan has to say about forums, personally I think this is

    superb:



    “Forums are the ultimate way to “play work” without actually getting

    anything accomplished. You feel like you’re working hard on your business

    because you’re talking and reading about Internet marketing,

    but last I checked you can’t deposit forum posts in the bank.



    In fact, that’s probably why so many of the forum regulars are so

    darn cynical. They feel like they should be make a lot of money because

    they “work so hard”, but in reality they accomplish nothing and are

    paid accordingly. It’s kind of sad if you think about it.    ”



    I couldn’t agree more!



    The people who spend all day on forums probably believe they are

    “networking”, but all they are doing is wasting time.



    The absolute worst thing you can do on a forum is listen to the person

    I call “Mr Big ****”. This is the guy with 1000+ posts who thinks he

    knows everything. This person usually has had some moderate level of

    success and now thinks he is elite.

    Mainly this type of person struck lucky and got into an industry early.

    If forced to start over from scratch, he would probably fail.



    I am sure we all know a Mr Big **** forum member, these people are best

    to avoid at all costs.



    The danger with Mr Big **** is that the other forum members will be

    scared of disagreeing with him. So this gives him a license to give

    ****ty information.



    Just remember, I have been there, done that, got the t-shirt.



    I am guilty of all of the above.



    You may think that Mr Big **** and his Pay Per Click site are successful,

    but last week I spent time with TRULY SUCCESSFUL people. There was one guy worth

    over 180 million, and all of them were leaders in their field.



    I will say this one more time…



    - Not one of them was a forum regular, none of them got their info from forums, not one of them recommended forums as a source of info -



    Don’t get me wrong, forums can be useful for newbies, but the problem

    is that forums generally are anti-newbie. In particular Mr Big **** hates

    newbies.



    Also, 99% of the info on forums is not worth reading. I don’t know

    about you, but my time is far to valuable to waste 99% of it.



    Your goal for the rest of 2007 is to stop “playing work” and start

    doing some real work.



    See you at the finish line.



    Dean (Deanhunt.com)



    PS: I have stopped emailing blog post notifications, but don’t worry,

    I post once per week (every weekend).



    PPS: If you disagree with all of the above, then you could be Mr Big ****.

    =======================================================
#2

Great read, good thing because I’m looking to market my website and products in more efficient & cost effective way (since I don’t exactly have large capital to invest at the moment) and sure can avoid these forums.



I do visit forums, specific to the products I sell so I can read and hear what people are wanting, etc.



Marketing wise I have so much to learn!!!

#3

Sorry but I disagree with most of what he says.



The secret is to use forums wisely.



I agree with the play working comment but that is often how we are exposed to new information and new ideas.



The top guys in SEO for example may not use the forums but they are the top guys. Being a beginner and not using forums or some other method of learning will not make you a top guy (or gal) - you will stay at the bottom of the pile.



I have learnt a tremendous amount from forums and I hope given at least or more back. Information that I would have never found been able to find out or have paid a fortune to someone else to sort.



So he is saying dont play work on the forums - but play work with me instead. No doubt $$ get involved somewhere. Lol.

#4

[quote name=‘Page’]So he is saying dont play work on the forums - but play work with me instead. No doubt $$ get involved somewhere. Lol.[/QUOTE]



While I understand his general point that forums can be huge timewasters, I have been to enough seminars over the years that I found to be equally, if not more, wasteful including some mighty expensive ones that employers required staff to attend.



One employer made our entire sales staff attend a seminar that was a laughable feel-good pitch to hire them for consulting. Our owner was also at the seminar and just walked away wondering why he had paid thousands of dollars to hear experts tell us about the importance of following up leads and how they could expertly organize our lead-tracking and sales analysis.



I think the point that should be made is seek out expert sources and use your time wisely.



Bob

#5

some people just use forums way too much :smiley:



sheep mentality? some people are just wired in the brain that way



I only read is 1 seo forum I browse once every 2 to 3 days, I have found some very informational stuff on their, but I never go to other forums unless I am looking for something specific, because it’s a waste of time and people are just asking the same questions all the time and making their own theories



s e o / sem evolves

what is considered good now will get you banned in 2 years

if you don’t keep up to date you screwed

their is a lot of mis information on forums too





but I come to this form because we all use cs cart and are always making our carts better



dean hunt and JesseLeeStringer have a lot in common :smiley:

#6

I think the guy is right on a few points … that there are self-proclaimed experts that spew ****, how easy it is to waste time, that there is a danger of sheep mentality. But talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water - what a joke!



His arguments for avoiding forums altogether just don’t hold up. If you want to waste time, it’s painfully easy … easy to play work (which regulars tend to do regularly), but it doesn’t have to be. Forums are wonderfully informative … there really isn’t a more efficient way to get specific answers to complex questions and keep current without a paid cadre of consultants or employees. I’ve learned more than I could possibly express from forums … other resources are seldom interactive and either fall short in useful info, get outdated quickly or are way too expensive.



But it is important to be selective in the forums you read. And it’s very important to make a decision based on previous posts as to who’s advice or opinion you can trust, and on what subjects they can be trusted … and view even their comments with some scrutiny. Make your own decision based on the info you gather, but no point in working in a vacuum when such a wealth of information is available just for the asking.

#7

Sorry I thought about this more.



The guy it talking B*********



Forums are truly great.



Provided you use them right - and that is all that is to it.



I would not pay for his advice - he does not know his stuff - and could harm my business and life.