Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

The Power of Saying NO

April 3, 2009 | Advice, Feature

This last weekend at Rockstar Platinum in Las Vegas, I was reminded of the importance of a very powerful skill – the ability to say NO.

logo-no-just-say-no-480 First off, this was an internet marketing event. If you’ve ever been to one, you know that it is pretty normal for the speakers to provide you a LOT of content and then make an offer. In other words, they’re almost always going to try to sell you something from the stage.

This happened at RockStar Platinum. There wasn’t a speaker there who didn’t try to sell something to the audience. From the business perspective, it is a matter of making money, of course. Usually, the event organizers make a cut and that is often how most of the money from these events is made.

The only thing I bought while in Vegas from a speaker was that I put a deposit down for the 2010 Marketer’s Cruise. I said no to everything else. Is it because I couldn’t afford it? No. It is because buying another info product would have violated my focus.

See, there are a LOT of ways to make money on the Internet. But, as Dustin Hoffman said at the end of the movie Hero: “You pick your [crap] and that’s your [crap]”. Yeah, I edited it for the children who may be reading. ;)

In other words, stay focused. Pick your approach to business and go with it. I am a blogger. My focus is on building traffic, building relationships, then making offers and selling things. Nice and simple.

So, when I get offers from speakers for things like learning PPC advertising, or branding, or podcasting, I say no. It isn’t that the offers are bad. They’re actually great. But, I’m not going to fall into the trap of being a scatterbrain. It isn’t productive.

On the flip side, I met a really top-notch guy in Vegas. He is a limo driver and he would like to begin making his money on the Internet. He told me the long list of products he has purchased in order to learn how to do it and it was pretty long. This guy must have spent TONS of money on information products yet he hadn’t taken action on any of them. I advised him not to purchase anything else. His job was to start taking action and build a business. Take one of the info products and apply it in earnest.

Most of the notable names in internet marketing provide high-value, solid products. But, don’t buy them all! Instead, find the person who resonates most with you, buy his/her stuff, and then apply it down to every letter.

A month ago, I purchased Mass Control from Frank Kern. So for now, that’s my thing. I’m not buying any other offer. I’m saying NO to everything.

I have my path forward and I’m busy walking it. I don’t need to get distracted with all the shiny objects on my path.

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  • Great Points,

    I really agree with the one about the limo driver. This might be the most common mistake people make. People keep buying more and more things thinking that will help them make money. But really once you commit to buying something work that program said No to everything else and focus on what you spent your money on. My advise would be to don't just invest your money make sure you invest your time in any program you pay for. Work hard to get what you paid for out of that program then move on.
  • Work Online, I think David's message is solid here. Even if it means applying the same logic to all the things you COULD do when you've focused down to one project. You have to say no, or at least -- later -- and stay focused on the task at hand until things are done.
  • Solid Advice. I've been juggling different projects for quite a while and, despite attempts to schedule my week, I'm always pulled in different directions and end up breaking the schedule to meet my obligations.
  • @Allyn
    To true! why can't they just show all the successful customers who bought into there program. I want to see action on products NOW! I don't' want to be shown the same old crap that just gets re-submitted time after time. Going to live shows are beneficial to everyone as long as you can remain focused and not get caught up in the hype.Staying focused is probably the best advice to take out of this post.
    Thanks for the read
  • I think my big takeaway from this post is the limo driver who had spent lots of money on "stuff" but never took action. Honestly, that is the biggest problem with most IMers. They have lots of knowledge and it paralyzes them.
    That's what all the "pitching" at those events bothers me. So many people buying "crap" and not doing anything with it.
    It would be refreshing to see a speaker at one of these events that entitled his speech after Ben Afleck in Boiler Room "get off your A$$, move around, motion creates emotion"
    something like that.
    AL
  • This is a very practical post for people in the internet marketing industry.

    I totally agree with you - there is simply too much good stuff flying around right now that it's like musical chairs, you end up moving from product to technique to technique to product and it's extremely easy to end up at a loss when all you really had to do was focus on one thing.

    I am trying my best to focus on something for now as well. I am keeping my fingers crossed for myself.

    Thanks David,

    Clément
  • It's very alluring to constantly research new things, network, learn new techniques. I talk with salespeople everyday, and a LOT of unproductive sales people and business people work very hard and spend a lot of time going to classes and conferences, etc. they're always in a process of learning and never actually implementing. You're absolutely right...just make your plan and go to work. Networking and conferences are great and valuable, but know when to say "NO"!
  • Getting out of your own way, avoiding distraction, allowing yourself to succeed -- almost as difficult a thing as there is...
  • Simon, yeah, your call on that one. I got Mass Control and I'm very happy with it.
  • Roman, on the contrary. Every speaker gave a lot of great information before making an offer, so there was a lot of info to be had despite saying no to their offer.

    It wasn't just a pitch-fest.
  • Recently I said YES, I said yes to Mass Control.

    I got it though, and have realised it's not for me, it's not a good fit with my business model, so I've now said NO and have asked for a refund.

    As you say, it's very important to know your path and to follow it, whatever that path is, as long as you take action and follow it with conviction you should have success.
  • Hi David,

    I agree with you 100%. How can one focus and take action if they're busy buying and trying everything?

    Interestingly, the more you take action, the easier it is to say no.

    Thanks,
    Peggy
    P.S. And I'm sure you learned plenty at the conference even if you didn't buy the products. If nothing else, you got to watch the presenters' marketing techniques as well as had the chance to network.
  • Did you go to the conference already knowing that you were going to say NO to everything? If yes then why go to the conference? Do they have new information there? Is it just a conference to sell things, or maybe just an excuse to go to Las Vegas? My guess is that you did not learn anything new since your post is about saying NO.
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