SUB DAY!

Bob & Nicole Dean

Hi. I’m Bob’s friend, Nicole Dean, and I guess I’d be considered a substitute since I’m filling in for Bob the Teacher this week while he floats to Poland. As you can see by the picture to the left, we’ll be having some fun while he’s away on vacation. And hopefully, we’ll keep some of the shenanigans just between us!

Sidenote: What is UP with my man hands? The graphic designer couldn’t have chosen a woman’s body to throw me on? Just teasin’. I told her to make it goofy. It doesn’t get any goofier than this! :D

But, why did I pick Star Trek?

Well, Bob and I are both very successful internet marketers, but our personalities are very different. He’s very … methodical (perhaps logical) whereas I’m more of a cowgirl (jump with both feet and see what happens) kind of gal. Therefore I have to tease him a little about how organized and orderly he is, while he shakes his head at my “fly by the seat of my pants” business. Remind you of the two characters in the picture at all?

Now that’s not at all to say he’s too logical or that I’m a mess. It’s just fun to see our strengths as very different. We’re not totally different, though. We do see eye-to-eye on the important things: Quality, Value and Respect. We both strive to make the ‘net a better place and to provide quality and value to people.  We also strive to be real and genuine and to actually CARE about our customers, list members, networking partners, affiliates, and all others who we interact with in our businesses (and in our lives). I have a very deep respect for Bob despite only knowing him less than a year. (I think he brings that out in people.) He’s one of the good guys.

So, why exactly am I here? No, I didn’t break in as a prank or bribe his VA to give me the password to mess with him. He invited me here. You see, I’m in the middle of a Summer Blog World Tour which has been an absolute riot to do. I’ve been hopping from blog to blog all summer long, posting a series of lessons about internet marketing at each blog. I’m here all week, and the topic will be ….

5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Star Trek that Have Helped me with my Online Business

I kept this topic a surprise from Bob, so I hope he enjoys the series. (I’ve been a fan of Star Trek since I was about 11 or 12 and have actually BEEN to a convention!) I have compiled a list of 12 lessons ideas for this series, but only have time for 5 this week, so I may need to send a complete report in a few weeks to those who loved the first 5 and want more. Keep an eye on Bob’s Blog (grab his RSS feed) so you don’t miss a thing.

Lesson #1: “I’m a doctor, not a ….”

One of the on-going themes from Star Trek was Dr. McCoy (aka “Bones”) constantly saying “I’m a doctor, not a _______” <– insert “mechanic”, “coal miner”, and my favorite … “escalator”?

A mistake that many (most) entrepreneurs make is saying “I’m a graphics designer, writer, techie, customer support specialist, marketer, book-keeper, videographer, and affiliate manager… all in one.”

I did it. And, pretty much everyone I’ve ever encountered that runs an online business starts out that way. We all try to “go it alone” and learn everything ourselves, and what happens is one of two things:

1. You never achieve success because you get stuck on too many roadblocks and give up from frustration.

or

2.  You overcome the odds and end up trapped by your own success. The bigger you grow, the more customer support you have to do, the more sites you have to maintain, and the more techie problems you run into — all while marketing your business. Eventually, you burn out.

So, what’s the option? No matter how tight your budget is, you’ve got to outsource. It doesn’t need to be a lot at first, but you can’t run an efficient, effective business as a one-man show — at least not forever.

Learn from Dr. McCoy. If you’re a kick-butt writer or speaker, then do not be worrying about updating or installing any software you may use. Outsource it!

Repeat after me. “I’m a _____” (insert what you’re good at), “not a ______” (insert the task that frustrates the heck out of you).

What should you outsource first?

I teach a course on outsourcing at OutsourceItWeekly.com and it’s designed for beginners & intermediate level. In that course, I recommend that you start by outsourcing ANY roadblock that stands between you and making money.

If you’re stuck installing Amember or Butterfly Marketing scripts or whatever you need to move ahead, then outsource that!

If you’re stuck editing videos that you’ve created, outsource that.

If you’re stuck figuring out how to set up your mailing list, outsource that.

Remove the roadblock. You can’t make money on unfinished projects. And, usually, you’d be amazed at how CHEAPLY you can get things fixed, especially if you know where to look.

Now, of course, I recommend that you check out my course at OutsourceItWeekly.com but I do want to warn you that it covers a whole lot more than outsourcing.  I can’t, ethically, teach people how to outsource tasks without teaching how to do the job properly in the first place. Otherwise, how will you know if the “social media” person that you hired is going to help or hurt your reputation and image?

Enough about that. :) I could put on my coach’s hat and preach on, but I’ll move ahead to something fun.

Since we’re going to be a little silly this week, here’s a series of comics for you to enjoy. (There are fifteen total, but you’ve got to click on the comic below to see all of them.)

internet marketing comics

If you know an internet marketer who’s also a Star Trek fan, please forward the link to this post to him or her to enjoy. Thanks!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. At each blog I visit, I give away prizes at the end of the week to a handful of lucky people who take the time to comment. But, you’ve got to comment in order to win!  Usually, you can win the report of your choice from SR Zone. (My favorite is Homepreneur Habits.)

Create Your Own Blog World Tour – Learn How Here…

Article Series - Star Trek Business Lessons

  1. #1: I'm A Doctor, Not A ....
  2. #2: Beam Me Up, Scotty!
  3. #3: They're Born Pregnant!
  4. #4: Are you REALLY Giving it all You Can?
  5. #5: Live Long and Prosper

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