Does Money Grow On Trees?

Does Money Grow On Trees?

by: Terry Gibbs

กMoney Doesn’t Grow On Trees.ก

Some of us even believe it. An orchard owner would say the statement is wrong.

His profits grow on trees…

As small business owners we are similar to tree farmers. We plant and nurture trees knowing that they will bear fruit. Some business owners grow trees with the idea of selling them when they start to produce fruit, but most of us build our orchards with the intention of selling the fruit.

In the early stages the trees require much tending. Later as the trees mature, they require less effort and produce more fruit.

How many trees are in your orchard?

My trees are designed to produce a constant stream of fruit with little oversight. This means once I have planted the tree I can move on to the next project.

Hereกs an example. I write ebooks. These are simple, tightly written reports on specific subjects. People buy them and then download them to read them. Each ebook explains a solution to a problem or a outlines a method to accomplish something.

For example my eBay Consignment book explains consignment sales and includes material on finding consignors. There are also contracts, templates of ads, and inventory sheets. Basically everything is included a reader will need to successfully start an eBay Consignment business.

This simple ebook sells itself. Or rather, there is a small army of affiliates who promote it constantly. It took me thirty hours to write the book and about 20 hours to get the marketing push started. It still sells well and I still harvest the profits.

The eBay Consignment book is just one tree in my orchard. Every six to eight weeks I plant a new tree. Some trees die before bearing fruit, others are stunted and produce weak fruit, and a few trees produce large amounts of fruit.

Years ago I was focused on the big trees. In fact I was so focused on the big trees I would chop down any trees that did not produce spectacular results. I never really got anywhere. I made money, but constantly switched from one project to another abandoning them as I went along.

I never spent the time to nurture and grow my orchard. I actually abandoned projects that were producing thousands of dollars in monthly profits because I wanted something bigger.

Two years ago I saw the error of my ways. I looked back on the things I had dropped and realized that as a group I had a nice collection of income streams. The whole group as an orchard was a good thing to have.

You see, I had the common misperception of entrepreneurs. I suffered from the wage slave lottery mentality. I thought the only way to break out was with a big one. Kind of like the guy working at WalMart. His only chance of getting anywhere is to win the lottery. I wanted the big one. The project with the huge payoff.

Anything less than spectacular was not good enough. My expectations were too high.

This is not how it works. You have to plant your trees learn your craft, and hone your skills.

Many new businesses fail because owners do not spend the time to nurture them. Years ago, I read a book called Acres Of Diamonds by Russell H. Conwell. It is actually a motivational speech Conwell gave thousands of times.

Anyway, Conwell shares a story about a many who sells his land to go elsewhere and search for diamonds. The man was obsessed with finding diamonds and becoming rich. After traveling for years the man gives up and commits suicide. It turns out the land he had sold to go prospecting was filled with diamonds.

The man spent years looking for something that was right in front of him. Conwell goes on to share stories of people who found immense success right in front of them.

This is not uncommon. Many of us learn to look for success outside of ourselves. When it is standing right in front of us.

I have changed my attitude and now look at myself as an orchardist. I tend my orchard, planting new trees and nurturing the fruitful. As my orchard grows so does my income.

Plant your trees and nurture them.

Terry Gibbs

About The Author

Terry Gibbs is the author of 13 books and writes a free monthly newsletter about creating and selling information products. You can read more about Terry and sign up for his newsletter at: http://www.nalroo.com

This article was posted on March 17, 2004

by Terry Gibbs

Marketing Lessons from a Rabid Chipmunk

Marketing Lessons from a Rabid Chipmunk

by: David Badurina

A relative of mine is a mailcarrier for the United States Post Office. Like any place of employment, there are all sorts of colorful characters working there. They’re all very good people friendly and enjoyable to chat with.

A gentleman working at the same post office as my relative is a happy, cheery kind of guy. I met him on a few occassions back when I was basically a rebellious highschool hoodlum. I noticed his pleasant demeanor. And that he was bald much like Iกll likely be in a matter of a few years. His coworkers had nicknamed him กShinyก.

Shiny was assigned a walking route most days. The neighborhood he traversed was quite nice lined with tall, shady trees for those hot summer days in South New Jersey. When you think of suburbia, you can easily picture Shiny walking bag in hand delivering mail to the nice people on his route. Manicured lawns, nice cars, kids playing in the bright and toasty sunshine.

Shiny was happy. Until one day, when small, furry horror reigned …

Shiny was doing what he does every day, walking his mail route. When suddenly an irrationally aggressive and perhaps slightly disturbed chipmunk sprung forth from one of the trees he was walking under and viciously attacked his head. Shiny did his best to quickly beat the fuzzy ferocious creature from atop his unprotected noggin. While no grave injury occurred during this incident, he did have quite a few scratches, needed some medical attention, and received a rabies shot.

This story actually teaches us many valuable lessons that we can use in life and in business.

Rabid Chipmunk Lesson #1: ‘take Risks.ก

If the chipmunk had been able to pry off Shinyกs head and stick it into the knothole of a tree, perhaps this would be a different story with a different lesson such as, กSTAY AWAY FROM CHIPMUNKS IN NEW JERSEY!ก Thank goodness this wasn’t the case, of course.

However, we cannot overlook this brave, furry, suburbandwelling animalกs actions. The pinnacle of chipmunk achievement was within itกs grasp. Did it freeze, uncertain of what to do? Did it seek approval from other chipmunks? No. This scrappy little fellow risked bodily injury and flung himself toward the gargantuan and delectable nut below.

In business, we’re often faced with similar choices. What do you do when opportunity arises? Are you a gambling chipmunk with an aggressive meanstreak, or are you the cautious kind? The cute little woodland creature that seems to miss many grand opportunities?

Rabid Chipmunk Lesson #2: ‘things are not always what they seem.ก

I can imagine what went through his little chipmunk brain just before leaping. Before him was an acorn so huge that other chipmunks in the neighborhood would be talking about him as legend if he could obtain it. For years to come, as dusk fell in Southern New Jersey, knotholes as far as the eyes could see would have wise old chipmunks telling the young ones of this most heroic feat. His name, forever etched in the annals of chipmunk warriordom. His story becoming fable over the years, with each retelling the size of the acorn grows until itกs as if the chipmunk, lean muscles bulging, flew from the tallest tree in the land and swallowed whole an acorn the approximate size of a 1969 Volkswagon Bus and then went on to marry the most beautiful chipmunk queen on earth.

This lesson is important in every business decision you make whether itกs a piece of equipment you’re purchasing (กA printer/fax/copier/cloning/time machine for only $89.99!ก), or a joint venture opportunity you are approached about. Pay attention to your intuition, but balance that with a firm grip on reality.

Rabid Chipmunk Lesson #3: กExpect the Unexpected.ก

I would wager a fair amount of money that as Shiny was walking down the street, the last thing he expected was the Attack Chipmunk of Doom unleashing Furry Fury From Above. Itกs not unfathomable, really. Chipmunks climb trees. When you walk on a sidewalk, trees are there. Unexpected indeed.

In business this is a rule to live by. Just when you need 200 copies of one of your brochures, the printer gags, chants backward in Latin, and projectilevomits peagreen toner onto the wall as if itกs possessed. Right when you’re on the phone with an important client, your batteries run out. As business owners, we can’t prepare for everything, but we can at least make a point of understanding that crazy things can and do happen. How you handle them is the difference between something unexpected being disastrous, or yet another obstacle youกve overcome.

There are many more lessons we can learn from this story, but the most important lesson is this: Pay attention. Strange things happen in life and if you understand whatกs going on, you just might end up learning something very valuable from something thatกs … well … fairly ridiculous.

About The Author

©2005 ViralMarketingTool.com

David Badurina is President of http://www.ViralMarketingTool.com and the creator of VMT Viral Marketing Software. VMT is being used by more than 20,000 people in over 160 countries and is the premier RelationshipBuilding Viral Marketing Tool available online.

To sign up for The VMTzine A truly unconventional newsletter with equal parts humor, reality, and sound advice for your business, just visit: http://www.ViralMarketingTool.com/articles.html

This article was posted on March 19

by David Badurina