People Believe Everything They Read

The Internet is full of people giving advice. “Do this and make a million bucks by next Tuesday” or “What I do is best because it works for me.” Meanwhile, most of these people might have read stuff and have no real success in the given area.

This is true not just in our industry. I am an active member of the Internet Marketing industry as well as Copywriting and Publishing industries and see this every single day. Today, while I was sorting through my massive pile of email, I noticed this a lot. You see, I know a lot of people personally in the online world. Because of that, I know their background too. I hear about their money issues (lack of it) or their business problems.

And then I see them GIVING ADVICE to others or trying to sell them the latest “get rich quick scheme! Crazy!

I was taught to always tell the truth, and this post might offend some people. But I’m going to say it anyway.

People who haven’t had actual success in a given area should not be teaching others how to do things!

What gets my dander up (as we used to say back in the ’50’s) is when people give advice and I know they haven’t been successful.

As I was raising my kids, I told them to pay close attention to who they take advice from in their lives. I often said “Don’t take financial advice from broke people. Don’t take relationship advice from people who are unhappy in their relationships.”

Unfortunately, it’s human nature to “believe what you read.” And the Internet has give us millions of sources of information to read about every subject under the sun. The difficulty is separating truth from fiction.

I want to give you the same advice that I gave my two daughters. When sorting through your email each day or reading stuff online, pay attention to the source. Do you really know if they are more successful than you? If the person seems to dole out advice all the time, take it with a grain of salt. I’m not saying you have to focus on me, but focus on someone who is doing better than you are right now.

Look for mentors who are successful and tune everyone else out.

In short, focus on those who DO things and succeed rather than those who TEACH and haven’t succeeded.

Okay, off my soapbox now… 🙂