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

When I was a kid I wanted to make my own money from as early on as I can remember. In fact I had a paper route with my twin brother from the time I was in 6th grade all the way up until I could get a real job. I was a middle school baller with pockets full of singles!

Well maybe I wasn’t ballin, but I was making my own money. Anyhow my oldest daughter who is 5 years old is starting to learn the value of money herself. We started giving her an allowance so that we could simply get her to clean up around the house. Now she is hooked on finding different ways to make money since she realizes all the neat stuff she can buy with her allowance. If only we could all be happy on a $5 a week budget!

Anyhow like the post says, Being an Entrepreneur is just in the Enke blood. I came out of my office to see this in the driveway today. I have to say it was a proud moment and put a smile on my face. Next thing you know she is going to be asking for her own amex black card.

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!