Published from A Secret to Make Online Business Profitable for You; The Guy Teased Me for Doing This Myself…
The Secret - Make Online Business Profitable for Yourself; This Man Teased Me for Doing it Myself…
“Arteest?!” When I was building my small engine & equipment repair business in late 2005, I envisioned a big, white business sign with forest-green letters and numbers. I was limiting myself to the cash I had on hand, though, so I determined to design, build, paint and install the sign myself. A local auto repair & towing businessman, Bill T., teased me a little bit: “So, you’re going to be the arteest?” he said. I kind of laughed along with him, but it didn’t faze me. I didn’t care how impossible it seemed; I was going to make it happen… …exactly the way I envisioned it. And I did. I used everything I had available to me. --I used a CAD (computer aided drafting) program to draw and produce dimensions for the letters.
--I used some old cardstock my grandfather gave me to cut out templates for all the letters and numbers I would need. --I traced them onto each side of each board, so that whether people were heading east or west, they could see my business name and phone number. --For several afternoons after attending college classes for the day, I used paint brushes and a quartsized can of forest green paint to carefully fill in the pencil-outlined letters and numbers. It wasn’t so much about advertising, as it was about being visible. The majority of customers called me in advance after reading my ad in the local paper, or seeing one of my flyers on a bulletin board in local businesses like grocery stores, farm supply stores, etc. I’m not going to get into advertising strategies here, though. The point I’m making is that having a clear vision is critical to success.
Make Online Business Profitable: Vision Versus Idea This is honestly mind-blowing! What’s happening today was predicted by a very astute writer, Roberto Verganti, over at the Harvard Business Review—almost three years ago! “Could the next decade be the decade of vision building? If so, we will witness a significant shift in the way we think about innovation, creativity, and leadership. Popular studies of creativity have equated it with the fast generation of numerous ideas (the more, the better); in contrast, visionary leadership requires a relentless exploration of one direction (the deeper and more robust, the better). Idea generation values a neophyte perspective; vision building is based on research and deep understanding. To generate fresh ideas we have been told to think outside of the box and then jump back in; vision building destroys the box and builds a new one. It does not play with the existing paradigms; it changes them. Studies of idea generation have lingered on variety and divergence, but vision building is based on convergence, on bringing others onboard. Ideas are culturally neutral as long as they help solve problems; visions are intrinsically ideological and biased towards a clear aspiration of how the world should be: They strongly reflect the personal culture of the thinker.” We are witnessing it right now. This kind of vision building has turned the direct sales industry upside down! Dave Sharpe, co-founder of the most innovative direct sales company on the Internet today, has repeatedly said that he doesn’t think outside the box—he’s destroyed the box! He and his business partner, CEO David Wood, have abandoned working with just ideas; they’re materializing visions—despite what any critics have said, they’ve kept going… …and will keep on envisioning, and succeeding, and envisioning, and succeeding.
A Vision of Liberty For example, I have a vision to build a team of people who have (1. The most income AND (2. The most liberty. Liberty is at the core of my vision—it’s the reason why I’ve never been able to stand working as an employee. It’s the reason I’ve done back-breaking physical labor without asking for a dime. And, it’s the reason why I’m building an online business; because, I envision people like you reaching out… …and claiming your liberty. --Josh “Mad Thrad” Campbell P.S. Do you have a vision for your future? Let me know what you’re thinking in the comment section. P.P.S. The company that Wood and Sharpe have envisioned and materialized is the Empower Network. Whether you’ve heard of it or not, visit my blog, watch Dave and Dave explain their vision, and take control of your future. Sources: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/03/having_ideas_versus_having_a_vision.html