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Taking Action Is Stupid

taking action is stupidTaking action is stupid.

Okay, okay, I have to add a modifier to that sentence in all fairness, but we'll get to that in a moment. For now, let's clarify what I'm talking about: the “TAKE MASSIVE ACTION!” roar you'll hear from the self-employed online marketing crowd. The crowd that doesn't have a clue what it's doing. The crowd that just fell out of regular employment, probably shouldn't be running their own businesses in the first place, and haven't got the elements of what it takes to create a successful operation.

Is that who you ought to be listening to?

Why Taking Action Is Stupid

So their idea of market research is to go onto a forum and desperately ask every passer-by, “What's working? What are you doing that's working?” They hope everyone else there is a little bit farther ahead of them, and can give them the magic beans or the magic bullets or the magic sauce that will make selling a breeze. Nope. Turns out, unfortunately, nobody else is doing much better.

I saw a Facebook post where a guy was proudly announcing he spent 26 cents on Facebook ads and made $28. Good ROI, to be sure, but why hasn't he scaled it? Because he can't. It was a fluke. It's baloney. What'd he do, get 15 clickthrus and get two $14 t-shirt sales? (Who knows...he didn't provide that level of information.) Is $28 in revenue something you want to brag about? Really?

That isn't a real business.

So these shouldn't-be-preneurs are all standing around in a circle—gosh, this is sounding like the beginning of a bad joke, isn't it—all chanting, “TAKE MASSIVE ACTION!” at one another.

Only nobody knows what action that is.

Make a list. Uh huh.

Promote affiliate offers. Uh huh.

Email your list once a day. No wait. Twice a day. No wait. Until you annoy them so much they start leaving, and then you scale back. No wait.

Nobody's really sure about this--but they are sure you should TAKE MASSIVE ACTION! on it. This is exactly the kind of reason why taking action is stupid.

If you took massive action and made $28...

...is that worth it?

...is that motivating?

...is that building something?

...is that worth bragging about?

If the game you're playing produces $28, let me tell you: you're in the wrong game.

And this is where following the “TAKE MASSIVE ACTION!” crowd leads you.

I told you, taking action is stupid.

You have very limited resources. Your time. Your money. Especially these two.

You cannot afford to TAKE MASSIVE ACTION! by picking an almost-random direction entirely on rumor, pulling on your soldier's pack and storming off that way.

That is stupid.

And what comes along with this crowd? Paralyzing indecision. Information overload. You crawl into a corner and sit there hugging your knees to your chest, mumbling to yourself.

This is where the crowd's unthinking chant leads.

If Taking Action Is Stupid, What Else Can You Do?

Here comes that modifier I mentioned:

Taking inexpert action is stupid.

When you learn a martial art, the instructor shows you the new motion. You mimic it. Your mimic is slow and clumsy. But accuracy of direction, like in drawing, is more important than straightness of the line. You get the idea. You keep practicing that motion. The instructor helps you correct it. In a relatively short time, muscle memory kicks in and you've got it.

You don't learn a martial art by going to a Jet Li movie and calling out to the audience, “Hey guys! What's your favorite technique?”—and then expect to know how to defend yourself. But that's precisely what the online marketing crowd is doing.

Expert action from a proven source of instruction is what you need.

The two best sources of expert action for creating a profitable business I know of are Jeff Steinmann's How To Quit Working and my own Price Power Profit Series (ask me about it).

The right actions need to be taken in the right order.

Taking action is stupid unless you know what these are.

Find a proven, trustworthy teacher. Follow their instruction. Taking action is stupid when it's done blindly. All you'll do is exhaust yourself and become depressed. Instead, take expert action and become inspired...become serious about your business...and become more wealthy in spirit and in finances.

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