My Answer To The Image Game

Images Are Powerful

Y’all crack me up! THANK YOU for the fun, insightful, and entertaining comments on yesterdays post with the image association game! It’s funny how the same images can mean totally different things to different people, isn’t it? Images can be so powerful whether it is something you see online, in a magazine, or on TV…. or in real life. Now it’s my turn to talk about those images…

The Power Of Images

Before I talk about the two images from yesterday, I want to share a little story with you. It was one of many times in my life that a situation formed an image in my mind that stuck. Even years later, that one moment in time sticks with me.

Years ago we were in Las Vegas. I love casinos… love to play the games. While I’d love to hit it big, I know the reality is that I will leave my entertainment money in the casinos. But that is what it all is to me – entertainment. It’s all fun and games and we all know the casinos have the upper hand in all games. The odds of me winning big are very, very slim versus the odds of the casino ending up with my money.

The only casino “game” I play seriously and study is Texas Hold ‘Em. To me, this is more a skill and the house has no part of the outcome of each hand or tournament. (Here’s a fun fact about ol’ PotPieGirl… I am also a professionally trained Texas Hold ‘Em dealer. It is one of the best ways to really be able to study and learn the game and be able to watch players with no investment in the outcome of the hand. Ok… jot that down in your PotPieGirl trivia notes…lol)

ANYWAY…. back to my story.

We were in Las Veags…. can’t recall which casino, but I do recall that it was like 3 or 4 am local time. I was wandering around (probably not doing well on the tables…lol) and I sat at some slot machine that was very close to a street-entrance door to the casino.

About 2 seats down from me was a woman who was busy at her own slot machine. She was intent…. heck, she was even glassy-eyed and focused….waiting on that big hit.

I didn’t think a whole lot about it. Its 4am, those “free drinks” in casinos flow freely. For all I knew, *I* was glassy-eyed, too!

But then… I heard something. It was a little voice – a child’s voice. This was odd to me because children aren’t allowed in casinos. I looked over towards the street entrance and saw a small little girl sitting on the floor in the public foyer area where you first walk into off the street.

The child was saying, “Mommy… can we go home NOW?”

No one answered the first 3 times this child called out to this mysterious “mommy”. But then, finally “mommy” responded – It was the woman 2 seats down from me.

This woman never turned around, never took her eyes off the slot machine, never stopped pushing that “spin reels” button. All she said was, “In a minute”.

The child slumped back down and looked to be trying VERY hard to stay awake. It was 4am local time, after all.

My overall emotional reaction to the whole scene was, “Oh, this is so sad!” I never spoke to the woman, but my instincts told me there was a real problem here. I saw a woman who was glassy-eyed and entranced by a “shiny thing”. She was feeding whatever money she had into it in hopes of that one big payoff that would solve all her problems the easy way.

Feeding The Shiny Things

When we come to the internet marketing world, we all do this at some point, don’t we? We feed the “shiny things” hoping for the easy big jackpot that solves all our financial problems.

I talk with a lot of people that are trying their hand at internet marketing. I’ve BEEN a person trying her hand at internet marketing.

To me, my images meant simply this:

You WANT this

But you’re using THIS as your fingers-crossed method of getting there:

Doesn’t really make sense, does it?

You want a home internet business where you generate income with commissions. You want to earn money online thru affiliate marketing. You want to be home with your family (and maybe you want one of those pink wine-coolers or a parenting book about not leaving a small child unattended on the couch, too! hahhahha! Just remembering some of the comments y’all left).

But instead of building web pages that are each potential streams of PASSIVE income down the road, you are feeding the shiny things hoping for that easy and fast way to hit the jackpot.

How many of you can say that you might just possibly spend more time buying and reading the newest, hottest, must-have make money online shiny thing than you spend on just making web pages to get another potential income stream out there? You don’t have to answer out loud. I’m not preaching to any ONE in specific.

I just want you to think about it.

NewsFlash! Shiny Things WORK

I have spent a lot of time reviewing IM-related products lately. Some are great, some are good, and a few I won’t talk about ever (I don’t do negative…lol)

Guess what I have decided about 95% of the launches and systems?

They work.

Nope, I haven’t literally done each one step by step, but I know they would work. I’ve been around long enough to know what is solid advice…and what’s not.

But here’s the catch….and here is where many, MANY people lose interest and go right back to feeding the shiny thing….

They only WORK if YOU WORK THEM.

Buying it and reading it won’t earn you a dime. Buying it, reading it and trying it once or half-heartily probably won’t earn you a dime either.

DOING IT makes money.

When you are new to all this, if you are not typing, you are NOT working to make money online.

Sound harsh? If so, I’m sorry. But so many look to me to be honest and shoot straight because I AM honest and I DO shoot straight.

And I DO care.

So I am going to say this in the most loving and caring way I can….

STOP BUYING STUFF.

– If you don’t have time set aside to WORK what you are buying – don’t buy it.

– If you aren’t sure WHAT you are buying, but it sounds easy/simple/fast/great – don’t buy it.

– If it is a tool that is supposed to make money faster, but does a skill that you do NOT already know how to do on your own – do not buy it. Only buy IM-related tools if you know exactly what it does and you KNOW it will cut down the amount of time you are already spending performing that task.

– If you think, “Oh this looks good. I’ll read it and then get a refund so I can buy ANOTHER shiny thing” – please don’t buy it.

One of the biggest and most lucrative markets online is those folks that are wanting to make money online. This crowd is STARVING for shiny things…. and supplying a never-ending stream of shiny things has proven to be quite lucrative for many, many savvy marketers.

These “gurus” are lined up like slot machines. They make pretty sounds, and are fun to look at. Oh, and it’s awesome when you feed them your money, isn’t it? Once you are in their “buyers funnel”, you will be prompted to deposit and spin those wheels over and over and over again.

Always be clear on your own personal motives for buying these “shiny things”.

Yes, I buy them. I buy lots of things for the education value of it. Not just online products, but magazines and books, too. This is my business… it is my job to know what is going on and what is out there.

Right now, YOUR job is to get web pages out there and money coming in. In a few weeks, we will be ringing in a brand new year. I want to get you started off right.

So, Who Is Annoyed With Me Now?

I have no doubt that there are folks out there that have read (or scanned) this post who are now annoyed. I can already hear this:

“But Jennifer, I have no idea what I am doing! I don’t know where to start! I’m lost, confused, and about broke. HOW do I start WORKING online?”

Good news!

For those who really want to know how to start WORKING online, I am going to give you a quick little lesson tomorrow. Real simple, too. We will talk about how to find what to sell, how to know if people are looking for that info, if the product converts and can make potential sales for you …..and what to do after you collect all this information so you can get something online.

I want to do it as a video because it will be SO MUCH easier to SHOW it as opposed to another mile-long blog post trying to explain it.

BUT, I have to get my head around this whole video making thing.

No worries, tho… I am hard-headed, stubborn and determined. I’ll get that video made (and y’all get to hear my silly little Southern accent…lol)

Ok, I’m done rambling.

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your comments and for reading here at PotPieGirl.com. I love knowing I am not talking to myself (like I do in the car)

I can’t believe I just said that outloud!

Have a great day!