First of all I want to apologize for not posting for a while. I have been really busy with my Masterclass students and this has taken up a lot of time. If you are interested in seeing how they progress throughout my 36 week program check out their blogs on the right hand side of this page. If you refresh the page you will see more blogs appear. After only 6 weeks you can see the incredible progress being made by all.
However, that’s not what this blog post is about, I want to write about something we all fear from time to time, and that is doing things online we have never done before. This could be anything from putting your picture online to recording your first video. If I recall I had been marketing for 4 years before I let anyone see what I looked like. Why it took so long is something I can’t really answer but I want to share with you three things I have already done this year that I had never done before. I had to do these things if I wanted my business to grow.
First of all I recorded my first video, I did this to promote my Masterclass program and this is something I had never done before. I was quite nervous not only filming this but making it public.
Secondly, I attended my first seminar last month. Again, this is something I had never done before and the thought of meeting people I had gotten to know online made me a little nervous but again I knew I had to do this if I wanted my business to grow.
Thirdly, I held my first webinar for my Masterclass students on Sunday. The thought of 80+ people listening to me and watching every move I made live was terrifying, but once I got into it things were fine and I have had excellent feedback from my students telling me how much they enjoyed it.
So what is the point I am trying to make here? The point is sometimes our fears can hold us back. We can keep putting something off and harm our business growth. I have been putting off doing live webinars for a long long time but now I have done one I feel I can do many many more. In fact I have plans to do something with all my subscribers, not just my Masterclass students. I also have many more videos planned and I will also be attending more seminars as the business relationships that can be struck while attending these seminars is priceless.
So if you are putting something off because you are fearful of what may happen my advice to you is to go for it. I have already done three things this year that I was fearful of doing and now it’s over I don’t really know what I was fearful of.
Is there something you are nervous about doing to grow your business? Share your fears by commenting below and maybe it will help you overcome them, but please make sure you do overcome them, especially if your business growth depends on it.
43 Comments
Omar Martin
March 11, 2009John,
It is so cool that you’ve shared this with us. Fears.. We’ve all had them, believe it or not I was so afraid of talking to people that when I first became a door to door salesman I would “pretend” to ring the door bell that way when no one answered I could just say “Ohh well, no one is home.” (That didn’t work out too well for me as I soon learned that it was a commission only job!)
Like yourself, I had to overcome that fear in order to grow my business. I pushed through it, and soon what was once my biggest fear actually became my biggest strength. I went on to train hundreds of sales people, many of which have gone on to build 6 and even 7 figure businesses. All because I found the courage to face that fear.
Now I’ve learned to confront the things that frighten me and take them head on. This blog post serves as a good reminder and inspiration for us all. Thanks for sharing!
Omar
P.S.- Here’s an article I wrote that everyone may fine interesting and funny…
http://omar-martin.com/peanuts-and-public-speaking/
Ray Johnson
March 11, 2009Hi John
Well said regarding alleiviating your fears. In otherwords stepping out of your comfort zone.
I am like that too although upon your recommendation (a day or so before your webinar I went out and grabbed GOTOWEBINAR and am holding my first free open to all webinar real soon… I juat have to learn it a little bit first.
Also RE: Seminars – my biggest fear there is getting about, but I am sure you guys would help me out right? I mean. What I mean by that is because I use a wheelchair my close circle of friends at home help me out when I’m propping up the bar, e.g. carry me down and upstairs etc etc
I’m trying to overcome that fear of mine by going to the London Lunch although I have to have an MRI soon, so hope it’s before then.
Looking forward to meeting you in London JT, the Newcy Brown or Stella is on me…
Regards and well written post.
Ray
Denise Sinclair
March 11, 2009Hi John,
Thanks for sharing, and just to let you know you handled the webinar very well everything went smoothly and I really enjoyed it. It gave me a sense of ease be cause I was actually interacting with other people in the same boat.
Keith Blackburn
March 11, 2009Excellent post John. This has given my a few ideas, and the confidence to implement them, for my own fledgling online business. Thanks!
Tracey
March 11, 2009Hey John,
Great post, and it doesn’t only apply to internet marketing either! It’s how we live our entire lives – fear holds us back when we should be always trying to better ourselves.
Having said that, fear has never really been a problem for me, but lack of time and lack of planning has and those are two things that I really want to work on this year.
And you should never have been nervous about filming yourself – I thought it was an awesome video.
As my mum always says ‘you done good’.
Tracey
Mandy Allen
March 11, 2009Hi John,
I listened to the recording of the webinar and it was fine. Don’t you always find that once you have a go it actually makes you wonder why you were so frightened! I’m really enjoying the masterclass, thanks for your easy to follow methods.
Mandy
Steve Ponton
March 11, 2009Great Post John,
I am delighted you have overcome your fears and shared your thoughts with us all.
The Webinars,Seminars and Videos seem such a major part of business development for Internet Marketers that we all must learn to become confident in these areas and again follow your example.
Another great facet of the JT Masterclass!
All the best
Steve
Ken
March 11, 2009hi John great work. How are your students driving traffic to their blogs?With thanks, Ken
Steve Rechel
March 11, 2009Hello John
I think your blog is great and it should help people to get started on projects they were putting off.I myself sort of did this last year as I wrote my first ebook called Motivational Force.Whats interesting is the fact that I don’t have any idea if it’s a good ebook or not because I haven’t sold any yet going on 6 months but thats ok.Because I don’t have a list or my own website.This is the reason I wrote it to hopefully make a little money so that I could reinvest the money in internet marketing.John I think your blog is great but it doesn’t really apply to everyone.Take me for instance.I have no fear to try new things in internet marketing just no money to really apply and or invest to make them happen.Good luck this year as it looks like you are positioned to help lots of people that do have the money start to earn a living using internet marketing.
Randy Smith
March 11, 2009Great Post John,
Like Omar, I had to learn to conquer my fears in the selling game.
Not that it was easy – just like all fears… they can play havoc with ones nerves.
I’ve often quoted a small mnemonic about fear for people to think about:
F alse
E vidence
A ppearing
R eal
As it is usually always something that is so much less frightening once it’s been done.
That doesn’t help the actual doing of something … But it does serve as a reminder to recall past things that had us worried to death and turned out fine.
Which will hopefully then help convince ourselves to (quoting Nike) Just Do It!
And strangely enough – most of the time everything does turn out just fine
Warm Regards
Randy
http://www.MoreMonthly.com
Mike Mott
March 11, 2009Hi John
Absolutely!
The older I get the more I hear the words of an older generation ringing in my ears….”never put off until tomorrow that which you could do today”.
Enjoyed the Webinar very much, I’ve just got to follow through on all those actions!
Best wishes
Mike Mott
PS Here’s something I wrote on a similar theme.
http://mike-mott.com/you-can-you-know/
Chris
March 11, 2009Great advice as always John, keep up the good work.
All the best
Chris
Point – Shoot – Drawn = Instant Floor Plans
http://www.mobilecadsurveying.co.uk/
Mostafa
March 11, 2009Nice one John,
That remind me a quote from Isaac Asimov who said “It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly”.
Yeh I got scared when I have to do something new but I just tell my self “when you’ll finish this it gonna be just a souvenir” and I go for it without apprehension.
It happen to me some time ago when I was exposing my PhD research to several highly skilled professors. I just prepared well every thing and went for it. I got my Doctora in telecommunication with Honors.
All the best
Mostafa
Richard
March 11, 2009Great post John.
I remember the first time I did a ‘How To DJ’ class for some students at the local uni I was nervous as hell. Within two minutes that had all gone and we had a great time.
Like Randy says ‘Just Do It’.
@ Mike: my mum still says that to me all the time when I moan there’s not enough hours in the day lol
Cheers John,
Richard
Barry Wells
March 11, 2009Hi John, yet again good sound advice from you. I was fearful of your webinar as it’s the 1st one i’d ever been invited to. I set up my mike and speakers on Sunday in readiness, but when it came down to it I bottled out for fear of making a spectacle of myself in public. Having watched the recording I could’ve kicked myself as it was really good and I noticed that others also had troubles with mikes etc, so i need not have worried myself. For your 1st webinar John, you done really well, it was excellent mate.
The Masterclass is going really well, the way the modules are well laid out, easy to follow and very well explaned. Another beauty is that we can go back over previous weeks and tweek our blogs as we wish.
John you really are a TOP MAN, Thank you!
Regards, Barry Wells
Tomas Lodén
March 11, 2009This blogpost can really help out some us new guys and I really appreciate it! You always say you want to help people and your blog and masterclass program proves that..
Best,
Tomas Lodén
http://tomasloden.com
Sweden
Gordan
March 11, 2009Hi John,
Thanks for sharing this with all of us. You did fantastic job during webinar and I really enjoyed it.
Few months ago I created my first video and I felt I did something
huge. Now I record few videos per week and now I am wondering what the fuss was all about.
We all need to step out of our comfort zone as only then things will start to happen.
Thanks again,
Gordan bosnjak
Phill Hopkins
March 11, 2009John,
Thought provoking stuff as always. Thanks.
So what did I do to upset you ? My blog is missing from that list.
LOL.
Phill
Reply by John:
Phill, your link is there but I only display 20 blogs at a time. Try refreshing the page a few times till your blog appears.
Dan
March 11, 2009Fears exist for a reason, they warn you, they are not just there to hold you back from progress. To overcome fears without analysing them is stupid. There are real and unreal fears, both have reasons to deal with, not just to ignore them and do something, TAKE ACTION NOW! Yeah, yeah, I know, take action now, overcome your doubts and fears and give me your money, NOW!
Doubts and fears can produce hesitation, what they are not good for. Hesitation does not help in any way. A decision has to be made, that’s the point. Then risk comes into play. Overcome your doubts and fears, don’t hesitate, take the risk and just do it? Come on … IT’S NOT THAT EASY! To be afraid of something can be very helpful, when it helps you to make good decisions.To be afraid of failure doesn’t help you in any way, on the other hand, it’s not that easy, really. If you think to much about it, that can be paralysing. And that’s certainly not, what fears are good for.
If you overcome a fear and make a mistake, this can ruin your reputation in this IM arena, and you can ruin your reputation forever, there are mistakes you only can do once in a lifetime, then that’s it. So you better analyse your fears and be sure, if they are there for a good reason or not! Want to try it out? Go ahead and overcome the strongest fear you can have: the fear of death. Maybe you will not be very proud of not beeing afraid here.
Dan from Germany
Sorry for my lousy Krautenglish, hope you get my point …
Susan Owen-Thursfield
March 11, 2009Hi John!
This is SO true. I honestly believe that you can only achieve things by stepping outside your comfort zone. It’s easier when there’s someone there with a safety line saying “it’ll be alright” but once past childhood, we run the risk of forgetting how to do it and then get “stuck”. That’s what’s so brilliant about a coaching program. As my mentor & coach, I expect you to support and encourage and push me… but it sounds like you’re getting the same from us!
The webinar was great – my experience is that they ALWAYS overrun – so I wonder whether you could ask for a few question by email beforehand so you can kick off straight away with “major concerns” if several people have similar issues? It would also give Dan/Dave some time to prepare any stuff they might want to. Just a thought.
Really looking forward to getting my own product – but very nervous (I’m suffering from the “it won’t be good enough to sell to anyone” syndrome). Catch you on Twitter!
Susan
Eruwan Gerry
March 11, 2009Hi John,
Thanks for reminding me not to lose out on fear.
Looking back at my own journey in the internet world, I must say that if I did not face my major fears back then and ran away, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Do keep up with all your great advice!
Jay Mueller
March 11, 2009John,
One of the Masterclass here. The webinar was great, even though I could not attend and had to watch the video. It was amazing how most of had the same questions and additional videos will follow. All of this should help with your next class. I think you should consider doing a video for each technical question that you could have ready for the next and future classes that I hope you continue to do.
Just to share fears, I had to overcome fears in the US Government doing budget laydowns to congress and briefings to generals. So as I moved into retirement I though…no problem. But what I am learning is that all these new things bring up like fears that I have overcome. So having fears is largly just not wanting to screw up, which is fed by wanting to do a good job, which boils down to wanting to succeed. So it’s all good.
Jay
Howard
March 11, 2009Hi John,
I have not bothered you in a while. I have been afraid to! I thought you would get sick of hearing from me.
I have to tell everyone here that John is an amazingly terrific guy and he deserves all the success he obtains. He is one of the GREAT guys on the net that really does help people.
I went through John’s coaching program and it was incredible, he made himself available when ever you needed him and the speed at which he returned his e-mails was absolutely incredible.
Thanks to John I have 8 websites up and a blog. I am proud of my websites, I am a little disappointed because I have not followed his advice completely yet because I do not have my affiliates page done for all my websites but I will be getting them done.
If anyone has any specific questions about John’s sincerity you can contact me directly and I will fill you in completely, I will stand behind John and his word 100% hgp321@gmail.com I mean it if you have any doubts about John whatsoever just e-mail me and I will give you some stories about this guys patience and true desire to help others.
It is John’s philosophy to give back and that is what he does. I am busy from 6am to 6pm because now I know what I am doing and that is all thanks to John.
If any of you get a chance to work with this guy “JUMP ON IT” you will not be sorry.
Sincerely,
Howard Platt
Ron Barrett
March 11, 2009John,
The webinar on Sunday was very good. The content was valuable and it was nice to see the interaction between you, Dan and Dave. Great Stuff!
I hear you on the fear stuff. From what I have read and understand, that is what holds most people back from doing things. The fear of failure.
But here’s the real question: What happens if it is a success?
That’s the great thing about Internet Marketing…make your first dollar. Then repeat the exact process once again. Make the second dollar. Now you know it’s repeatable and you can make as much as you want.
Don’t let fear get in your way.
And Phil, I believe if you refresh your page (F5), you will see another list of student’s blogs….and refresh again, another list…I don’t know if it’s totally random or not, that is something John and Dave would have to answer.
Good luck to everyone in the class. Now on to commenting on other’s blogs.
Thanks for everything you give John.
Ron
Tony
March 11, 2009Hey John you hide your fears well.
We’d have never had guessed you were fearful of those events from the confidence you projected. Well done.
My way of overcoming fear is to say to myself “Has it been done by others like me?” If it has, then I should be able to do it too.
I’ve actually got Traceys problem worse. Actually getting around to planning it and doing it instead of just constsntly pretending to myself “I’m just learning the next bit before I try it.”
I really liked the idea from Mostafa of experiences being souvenirs.
Thanks to you all. Looking forward to paydays from your excellent teaching John.
Best wishes
Tony
Darrel Ferguson
March 11, 2009John,
Your are the king of the internet…because you are sincere
and it shows.
Let me start by saying I have been in sales and sales managing for 40 years and have seen many people that had talent, but was afraid to attempt interacting with other people or groups of people.
As one of the posts above so truly stated, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”. I know to us readers that your fears seem trivial, but to you your fears are like walls to climb. I am proud of what you have accomplished and am honored to be one of your Master Class students.
On another note, You and your master class students are fueling something that is going to “ROCK THE INTERNET MARKETING SCENE”
I have this feeling about this feeling that keeps me up at night with excitement.
You Mark my words…….
John, thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us and if there is anything I can do for you….Don’t be afraid to ask!!! LOL
Have a great Year
Darrel Ferguson
http://www.liquidairwear.com
http://www.darrelferguson.com
Karl Foxley
March 11, 2009Great post John.
I think the very essence of understanding our fears and overcoming them is what makes the good ‘great’.
I was a very shy child and this carried over into my adult life. I was always nervous when having to talk in public and moving into small business coaching this was a very stressful thing to overcome. I did overcome this ‘fear’ by doing it more and more and by adding a few coping strategies like being well-prepared and having note-upon-note ready for every perceivable question.
This fear has improved me as a person because I give 110% at every presentation to compensate for the fear.
Thanks for posting (always great content).
Karl
Ann
March 11, 2009John,
What a great post! I was thinking a lot about internet fears lately. I would like to do a video soon myself. Can you believe I have a degree in Theater and this video idea scares me?
One of the reasons I signed up for your Masterclass is because of your video! I felt more like I knew who I was dealing with. It’s a bit scary to sign up for a program from someone who lives in another country. But it has turned out to be the best business decision I have made in a year. So thanks for stepping past that one fear and making the video, and this post.
Ann
Erin
March 11, 2009Great post, John.
You are the last person I would have thought of having any of these fears. Just shows what a confident and accomplished manner you have. Thanks for sharing (and I’m loving the course!).
Cheers, Erin
john kelly
March 11, 2009Thanks for conquering the fear of sharing your fears. When I made the decision to ‘pay my money and take my chance’ with your Masterclass I had to overcome the fear that it would turn out to be yet another waste of my time and money, but I’m happy to tell you my fears are evaporating as I work on the weekly tasks. I am now online, after 3 years of kicking tyres !
As I often tell my children most of the things we worry about never happen, and then we can ‘cross the bridge when we come to it’.
Or to put it another way ‘once I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken’
ciao jj
Ken Barrett
March 11, 2009Hi John,
I am just catching up with the happenings at the 1st Webinar. I couldn’t make it to the like session but listened to the podcast in the car today, yes all 2 hours of it whist stuck in traffic on my daily commute (this J.O.B. has got to go!)
A great post about facing our fears about doing new things online.
Fear is a natural response to anything that is new or unknown to us. It should be recognised as a call to action.
You handled the call beautifully with great warmth, understanding and professionalism.
I for one feel lucky to be part of this Masterclass and I am really excited about the future.
When’s the next webinar?
Ken
Susan Young
March 11, 2009Hi John
I just read your most recent post and I am feeling a little silly and guilty, but mostly re-motivated. I am a student in your Masterclass and I am about 3 weeks behind. I have had a recent spat of bad luck (end of a relationship, had to move house, my laptop screen broke) so I have been able to keep up.
I think the fear of losing everything made my mindset change. However, there’s amazing truth in “what you put out there you get back” – I had no money to join the Masterclass, but then suddenly was refunded the exact amount I needed. Although my laptop broke down, the IT guys at work gave me a PC for free (I just got it home last night) – all I need now is a wireless adaptor for it and I’m good to go.
I guess the things you fear the most are the things that happen to you. Instead of being afraid, now I am taking charge – who cares if I make mistakes along the way, we all have great support.
Thanks John
Michael Haught
March 12, 2009I would have to say my worst fear so far is creating my own product!
I am one of your Masterclass students and I know you keep saying don’t worry, but I do. I have had no problems with the first six weeks of the class because it’s all technical. I can just follow you and things work out. With my own product, I have to do the thinking.
The one thing that is helping is posting my own, original blogs every week. I guess somehow I get ideas from every post I make and I do know what my product is going to be. But it’s just an idea, an outline. The hard part for me is filling in all the gaps and making something that people can use. Guess we will see! With your help, I am sure I’ll be alright.
Fire it up,
Michael Haught
http://www.michaelhaught.com/
Gary David
March 12, 2009Hi John,
Great post again! You’re right, we all have fears in whatever aspect of our life, and if we want to be successful in whatever aspect of our life, we have to overcome them. Ideas will always be ideas until we put them into action, and the action is to overcome the fear first so we can gain momentum, just like when we first rode a bike, we all have fears then, but we overcame that fear and we’re now an expert in riding a bike. Continue to post great stuff John, goodluck to you.
Kind regards,
Gary
http://www.privatelabelunlimited.com
John Edwards
March 12, 2009Hi John ,
What an excellent post subject, my only fears really are never being able to break away from my job i detest so much, as everything i have tried in the past seem meer pipedreams !
However as the weeks go by on the masterclass course i find myself quitely looking at certain co-workers and management i despise and strangely being confident that up to about a year from now it will be Hasta la vista this kids bought a new pair of sneekers !
So thanks for your insight on your fears as i have now relayed mine.
All the best John….John.
Victor
March 13, 2009Hi John. Great post as always. Had to smile when I saw Omar make the first comment. Hoped he would relate his video nightmare from a few weeks ago when dozens of us watched as he furiously tried to get any sound to come from his end (at least it had a IM feature.) It would seem like the sort of bad event that keeps us from trying things like that, but I’m sure he “survived” even the “worst case” and has done other (audible) events since. Victor
kevin howe
March 13, 2009Best blog in the class mate.you done this b4 hehe?
Andres Luna
March 14, 2009What can be more thrutfull than that? Fears holding you back, it has been part of everybody life, fear won’t let you move ahead and keeps you tied down to failure, thank you John for your help.
Sue French
March 17, 2009Hi John,
Your webinar, and your video were great. As you say, don’t know why you were nervous!
Great post, thank you for sharing with us, your concerns.
My great fear at present is about creating a product – what do I know enough about to help others with that is not already available in bucket loads online, often for free.
Organisation and time management seem to be my challenges now; as someone else said, the technical stuff seems to work out fine when I follow the videos, especially with the excellent support sustem you have.
Well, here comes week 7: nervous, but looking forward to seeing how the rest of the masterclass proceeds.
Cheers
Sue
Rick Nelson
March 25, 2009John, Thanks for this offer and I’ve been trying to signup through your link ever since it launched yesterday. Every time I click on the add to cart link it just hangs and never once made it to the payment page. I hope to take advantage of your offer along with BM2.0 and I will try again, but if I get the same thing again I’m going to give it up (just on this BM thing, not Internet marketing).
Rick Nelson
Kathy Dobson
April 3, 2009Hi John,
There’s that “fear” word again.
Wonderful post…written from your heart. It most certainly resonated with everyone who read it…because who hasn’t had a fear…or should I say many fears? Overcoming those fears, or should I say, seeing them for what they are instills a sense of power within us.
Keeping us muddled in those fears is the action of the ego. The ego knows that once we realize that fear has no power over us…then not only is fear eradicated, but the ego is placed in a position of servant instead of Master.
Thanks for reminding me…
Kathy Dobson
[…] A fancy word for Fear ! The Fear Factor ! Feel the Fear and do it anyway. To take a leaf out of John’s latest blogpost you or I should not be afraid to put a high value on the stuff we know. In the same way that we […]
[…] to get in before the spaces were all taken. More to come on the MasterClass later, but now a link to an excellent item of John’s for […]
Leave A Response To Jay Mueller Cancel reply