During this time I have experienced multiple failures as well as a few great successes.  I have made a lot of money on the successes, but at the same time I have taken some pretty brutal losses on the failures.  Welcome to the life of an entrepreneur, it’s never an uneventful journey.

Similar to a high stakes poker player, being a serial entrepreneur you have to expect, and be mentally prepared for many swings throughout your career.  You also have to be willing to assume a level of risk that 99% of your friends could never imagine.  When starting out, you have to be willing to risk your last dollar into something if you have conviction that it will be successful.  It is virtually impossible as an entrepreneur to become a millionaire without this type of attitude.

With all that said, there are not too many projects I work on these days that give me the entrepreneurial goose bumps.  In fact, out of 100 different business ideas or investments, I can think of maybe 3 or 4 throughout the years that I have been as excited about as what I am working on now.

I have never been more confident in something as I am in the success of what I will just call “Project V” for now.  Getting back on my own and being the CEO of my company is the best move I have ever made.  I have assembled an amazing team of individuals at Empire Marketing, and this is a primary reason I have 100% confidence in what we are building.

As you all know, I have always been a firm believer in surrounding yourself with successful people.  This principle is especially important when founding an internet start-up.  You are only as good as your weakest link.

I keep speaking in the forums, in this blog, and on the radio about innovation for one reason.  I want everyone to realize that it doesn’t matter where you’re at right now, what you have failed at in the past, or what your net worth is.  Everyone has the ability to create their own destiny and make big things happen regardless of circumstances.

A wise man once said the following:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge”

Albert Einstenin

As many of you know I recently left the PAP forums, as well as the parent company, AP.  As much as I loved the forums and my former business partners, it was just that time for me.  I can’t quite yet speak about all the projects I am currently working on, but when I can, I imagine it will make more sense to many of you.  Needless to say I haven’t been this busy in a few years, and I love it.

One thing is for sure though; I have never been more excited to be an entrepreneur as I am right now.  With the global economy being in a downswing, many people are tightening up and taking fewer risks.  This is where I differ, I am going to loosen up and take more risks!

Although this may seem reckless, it isn’t.  Over the past 10 years I have always been one to get in and out of businesses and situations at the exact right time.  And in respect to the economy, I don’t know any serial entrepreneurs that are letting this recent downswing halt their dreams.  Even if the stock market tanks and we are in a full blown depression, there will still be a select amount of people that will make more money in the next few years than they ever have before in their life.  This needs to be YOU! Remember, opportunity is recession proof!

With that, here are the top 5 things I (Jeremy Enke) love about being an entrepreneur:

1. Freedom – Some people can work for a boss their entire life, not me.  I love having the freedom to make my own business decisions, hire my own people, and be responsible for every aspect of my business.  My theory is, “Why work for the man when you can be the man”

2. Money – Financial Freedom – I can’t imagine knowing I am only going to make X amount of dollars next year.  Like almost every other entrepreneur out there, I have been broke before.  I never want to go back there.  I love money and love having financial freedom to take vacations and provide a great life for my family.

3. Time - Although I easily work more than 40 hours a week, (probably 60+) I do it on my time.  Too many companies in the U.S. have the dumbest policies about time and schedules for their producers.  I literally have buddies that produce 20 times their wage, and work overtime hours for free, yet if they show up at 8:05 versus 8:00 two days in a row, they are in deep shit.  I am happy to say at 8:00 I am checking emails on my couch drinking coffee…. I love working my own hours.

4. Opportunity - After you have become a successful entrepreneur and have established yourself, it is amazing how many opportunities get presented to you on a monthly basis.  Over the last few months I have actually had to turn opportunities down that I knew were profitable simply because I did not have time.  Nonetheless, entrepreneurs look for opportunities and will always find them sooner than people hoping to be in the right place at the right time.

5. FUN - I have fun every day in both business and life.  I love my job, I love what I do, I love being my own boss.  Whether you want to be an entrepreneur or not,  if you’re not having fun in life, make some changes.  Life is too short to be miserable or not happy.

Make it a great week everyone!

Jeremy

Regardless of if you work as an accountant, an actor, an athlete, an engineer, a manager, or yes even an affiliate; there is one thing that you can never go wrong doing.  That is building your own personal brand.

Way before I even knew what internet marketing was I worked in sales for a few different Fortune 500 companies.  Within these companies, I was able to work my way up into various leadership roles on the sales teams and within the organizations.  Much of this was because of my performance, but more so because I was able to establish my own personal brand as being a person that others could relate to, and that had passion for the work I was doing.

Once you have successfully built your own brand, you will find that many more doors open up for you.  Before you can begin establishing your own personal brand however, you have to have a clear vision of what your brand will represent.  If you consider yourself an expert in something, then build your personal brand around that.  Don’t be afraid to let the world know that this is who you are, what you represent, and why you are an expert in that field.  Regardless of what field or industry you work in, if you build your brand and establish yourself as an expert, you WILL see more doors opening up.

I may sound like a broken record, but I can’t emphasize how important it is to surround yourself with other successful people.  Not only will it make you smarter, but a lot can be said about the people ultra successful individuals associate themselves with.  Part of building your own personal brand is by earning the respect of fellow experts in your industry.

One of the most important aspects of building any brand is also to be consistent.  It takes some time before your brand will be firmly established in the minds of your audience, customers, or business associates.  There are several books out there about “how to” build your personal brand.  In closing though, the power of building your personal brand should not be overestimated.

With all this talk about branding, I do feel obligated to post a picture that my good friend Greg Powell emailed over to me the other day.  It looks like I have achieved the pinnacle in building MY personal brand. 

One thing I have always said, and believe me you can ask anyone I know; I talk the talk and walk the walk. Surround yourself with positive people and positive thoughts. Just because there are problems with the U.S. and other economies doesn’t mean that they sky is falling!

As online affiliates, we are very blessed and very lucky that we all have the ability to work in a global economy. Below are 5 reasons why if you’re an online marketer or affiliate you should be positive right now.

1. You don’t work for the man, you are the man – This is so true because when you are your own boss, although you may have a few bad months, you never have to worry about losing your job, or someone else cutting your job unexpectedly. Owning your own business comes with it’s own challenges (no doubt), but if you have that entrepreneurial spirit, nothing will ever beat being your own boss.

2. We work in a global economy – Sure maybe the U.S. or U.K. economy is bad right now. But who cares! As an affiliate, your office is the internet. This means that you can work or promote in any country of the world. With just a little work, you can penetrate foreign markets with almost any product in the world, whether gaming or non gaming.

3. Gaming affiliate payments – I think as gaming affiliates we may take prompt payments for granted. Sure, there are small sites that can be rogue, but for the most part our industry is so cash heavy that we really never have to worry about getting paid. On top of that, most of the companies we deal with are foreign companies and not really affected by a terrible U.S. economy. This may sound trivial, but look at “Main Street America” and how many business owners are dealing with collections issues right now from struggling organizations.

4. You can create your our own destiny – This is one of the reasons I love affiliate marketing. Although most of our friends and family have no idea what we do, we truly create our own destiny. Considering how enormous overall internet marketing has become, we truly have the ability with our skills and knowledge to work in any market or country we want. Don’t take this for granted either, most people would love to have this opportunity.

5. We are envied – Maybe this is wrong to say, but it is 100% true. If you’re an affiliate and make any amount of money online, I guarantee that you have friends who envy you. There are so many people that work the 9-5 grind and still cannot fathom simply getting checks every month from online work. If you’re an affiliate you should take pride in this. We all bust our asses and most of us work more than 40 hours a week every week. Enjoy the fact that nobody knows how we do it and wishes they could “figure it out” themselves.

In closing, there is no question that the economy is struggling and that many are experiencing hard times. As an affiliate though, you are in a unique situation where unlike almost everyone else you know, a terrible local economy doesn’t have to destroy your world. Whether we realize it or not, we are all very lucky to have the knowledge and skills to be able to make money and build wealth during tough economic times.

Anyhow, today I want to write about opportunity. I decided to use the title that I did for this post since, it has been in my PAP signature for several years. I have always kept it there and it has somewhat become synonymous with me, because this is a statement that I truly believe in.

Too many people I know simply dream about great opportunities presenting themselves in their life or magically becoming a millionaire. Unfortunately million dollar opportunities rarely just “present” themselves. Almost every successful entrepreneur or millionaire I know has either created or found their own opportunities in this world.

Too many people love to use the excuse that so and so got lucky, or so and so was in the right place at the right time. Sure maybe this is sometimes true. But do the same thing then, put yourself in the right place at the right time. Or even better, place yourself in a position to “get lucky”.

If you think the statement “There’s a million ways to make a million dollars, you only have to find one” is just a motivational quote, do this; Go buy the last 3 copies of FastCompany Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Inc. Magazine. Read through all the various stories and you’ll see that there are thousands of entrepreneurs out there making it happen every single day!

If you truly want to be a millionaire, then start thinking outside of the box and examining what your working on. be honest with yourself too. If what you’re currently working on doesn’t have the potential to make you millions, then perhaps it’s time to change your focus.

Either way, the opportunities are all over the place if you simply expand your horizons and look for them. Make it a great week!

Although I can see why some may think that, I do consider what I do a real job. My office is the internet, and I can guarantee that I spend more time in my office than 95% of typical 9-5 workers ever will. If you’re willing to accept the long hours of “making your money online” and being an internet marketer, you too can get the benefits of living your entire life like you’re on vacation.

Take away the fact that I am really on a vacation right now. If I ever want to break out for a day and go to the zoo with my kids, I do it. If I want to mow my lawn before it rains, I do it. If I want to take off early on Friday to golf, I do it. I can’t imagine having t put in a request to some dude in a corner cubicle to get off early on a Friday, and then even worse having to wait to see if it gets approved!

Don’t get me wrong though, I DO work over 60 hours a week consistently. However, I have the flexibility to some extent to choose when I will work. Although for those of you that know me, you know I am online almost every day between 8-6. Sure I could screw off and never work, but then I wouldn’t have the flexibility that I explained above.

The reason I still work so many hours even though I have the flexibility not to is because I truly love what I do. Likewise, I am extremely driven by the goals I have set forth for myself. I learned a few years ago that life is just too short to be owned by someone else in this world. It’s a good life when you can make decisions for yourself and take ownership of your personal and financial situations.

In order to have this type of lifestyle however, you also have to be willing to take accountability for every action and decision you make. The bottom line is that every person in this world has the ability to live a life in which they are able to manage their own time and determine their future earnings.

If this type of lifestyle motivates you, then take the proper steps, and start making it happen!

Make it a great week!

I can think of a few defining moments in my professional career over the past 12 years. A couple of these defining moments have had a profound impact on my past, present, and future. Likewise I’m sure over the coming years I will experience a few more defining moments. Welcome to the life of a risk taker and entrepreneur!

A defining moment is a moment or period in your life that changes the way you think, your direction, or everything you do moving forward. The difficulty however is sometimes recognizing what your defining moments are throughout life, and then seizing them when you are in the midst of one.

When you recognize a possible defining moment in your life or business, you need to embrace it and make a commitment to seize the moment and take control of your own destiny. Take ACTION! As an entrepreneur myself, there have been times when I have had to take a huge leap of faith. Sometimes I have been right, and other times I have been wrong. But I made the commitment either way

If you feel like your professional career might be in a slump or perhaps things are not going as planned, seek out a defining moment in your life. Regardless of what your situation is, you have to have passion and enthusiasm about what you’re doing. Nobody can create this for you except YOU.

I imagine in 1997 when Tiger Woods won his first major at the age of 21, this was a defining moment in his life. Something tells me he looked deep into where he had been and where he was going, and at that point he knew he was about to embark on a lifelong journey to be the best golfer in the world. This is the kind of attitude and passion I am talking about.

For some of us, we can look back and recognize a few golden opportunities that have come and gone over the years. Don’t worry, I am right there with you. But it is us and only us who can change the course in which our lives are taking us.

Having a defining moment doesn’t have to be some awe inspiring thing that happens either. I usually don’t get too personal in this blog, but I feel in this post it is important.

A few weeks ago I was really struggling with some of the past decisions I have made, as well as where I want to be in 10 years. So I literally took an entire day to myself and went Kayaking. During this time I reflected on everything both personally and professionally that I was unhappy with in life.

By the end of the day, my arms were killing me! But more importantly I had changed my state of mind, and now a month later, I can clearly say that this day will become one of the defining moments in my life.

There is no greater happiness in life than knowing the direction you are going, and the roadmap you are following to get there. Here is one of my favorite motivational videos of all time.

Make it a great week.

Allow me to go off on a slight rant for a moment. Yes, the gas prices in the U.S. suck, the housing market is in a slump, and the U.S. dollar is garbage right now….. Who cares, it’s reality and in the big scheme of life you could have far worse problems.

I often speak about surrounding yourself with other successful people. You need to do this, but you also need to surround yourself with positive people and positive energy. Do you think the entrepreneurs getting richer this year are sitting at Starbucks griping about gas prices? Hell no, they are making big things happen regardless of what the economic state is.

The reason the rich get richer is because they surround themselves with positive energy and associate with other positive people. Instead of complaining about things that are out of their control, they speak about how great things are and how they are growing their business by capitalizing on what they can control.

People that say the rich get richer because of tax breaks and special privileges are fucking idiots wrong. The top 10% of earners in the U.S. pay over 68% of the total Income tax in this country. Furthermore, there is no reason the wealthy should be punished in the form of taxes for being successful. Nonetheless, the rich get richer because of ingenuity, perseverance, and hard work……not tax breaks.

Believe me, I realize how easy it is to get caught up in negative conversations with friends now days. And we all know a few people that are constantly complaining about “their situations”. Unfortunately surrounding yourself with these types of people or negative energy in general is a one way ticket to nowhere.

Try something this week. Make an effort to go out of your way to have a positive attitude and surround yourself with positive energy. I don’t know about you, but I want to be on the “rich get richer” side of the fence.

I watched the movie “The Secret” a few months ago, and although I am not 100% sold on every concept, I am sold on the law of attraction.

Make it a great week!

Unfortunately the great Jimmy V passed away 2 short months after giving this speech. If you can’t watch this video with sound, I encourage you all to take 5 minutes out of your day and give it a good read. There are so many gems in this speech, that it is truly one of the greatest speeches I have ever seen.

]]> http://www.jeremyenke.com/2008/07/17/jimmy-v-famous-espy-speech-put-things-into-perspective/feed/ 2 http://www.jeremyenke.com/2008/07/14/motivation-stop-being-an-affiliate-and-be-an-entrepreneur/ http://www.jeremyenke.com/2008/07/14/motivation-stop-being-an-affiliate-and-be-an-entrepreneur/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:41:10 +0000 Jeremy Enke http://www.jeremyenke.com/?p=472 There is no doubt that the world of affiliate marketing is constantly evolving and changing. And unfortunately the evolution and change is exponentially greater in the online gaming affiliate vertical than any other. I have written a lot about diversification, which is important. However, more important than diversification is changing your mentality from an affiliate to an entrepreneur.

Seriously, think about what the perception you have of yourself is, or the perception your peers have of you. Is it that you are an online affiliate or entrepreneur? Being an affiliate marketer is very rewarding and you can make a great living doing it. However unless you are one of the top affiliates in the world, you are not going to get super wealthy.

This is where being an entrepreneur comes into play. Believe me, I love making money online and affiliate marketing as much as everyone else. At the same time though I am always looking at money making opportunities outside of my “comfort zone”. Just because I am good at affiliate marketing and more specifically poker affiliate marketing, doesn’t mean I can’t create wealth in other areas that are totally unrelated.

Since I have been doing poker affiliate marketing so long, I have to be honest, I sometimes get more excited now days at new opportunities unrelated to poker. Sure the poker affiliate market is and will always be in my blood. But before being an internet marketer, I would consider myself an entrepreneur. By having this mentality it has opened up my mind to all kinds of thought processes and opportunities that I would have never thought of if I 100% thought of myself simply as “an affiliate”

So not only do I encourage everyone to diversify their businesses inside of affiliate marketing, I also encourage you to look outside of YOUR comfort zones. There truly are a millions ways to make a million dollars in the world, and all you have to do is find one.

The downside of being a true entrepreneur is that you are going to fail at most of the things you try. The beauty though is that the one thing you are ultra successful at will create a great income and life for you. So change your mindset from strictly thinking like an affiliate to thinking like an entrepreneur. If you do this, you’ll be amazed a the new ideas and opportunites that will run through your head.

Make it a great week!