Who built the gondola? (About Persistance)

“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”
- Barack Obama

If I were to believe the popular media, I could understand why people see success as something one is "born to achieve", something magical and automatic. It's like if all you needed to do to conquer a mountain, was to step aboard a gondola for a ride to the summit, taking you there directly, comfortably, with no hint of blood, sweat or tears. Step right up, buy your winning lotto ticket, and dare to dream!

But who built that gondola in the first place?

Read the accounts of anyone who sets off to conquer a real mountain, like Mount Everest. To reach the top, you must make your way to a Base Camp, the first of several stops on your trip. At Base, you take the time to adjust to the altitude and the conditions. Then you set off to the next camp, from where you perform day hikes to train and to get familiar with the terrain, always coming back to the camp at night. Sometimes a team member has to return to a lower camp, whether for altitude sickness, frostbite, weather or one of many other medical or logistical issues. It is only when conditions are right, and that you have successfully reached the highest camp, that you can then aim for the summit.

You create results in your Big Project in a similar way. You build to a certain level of results, where you level off to give yourself the opportunity to regain your strength and your reserves, and reinforce your systems, standards and boundaries. It is only then where you make a push for the next level of performance. Sometimes circumstances force you to revert to a lower camp, because you run out of energy or resources or the conditions are not sufficient to progress forward. Sometimes on your trek to the next level you realize you face a big chasm or a dead-end, and you have to abandon the path and return to the previous camp. And sometimes the summit can seem so close, but you still need to abandon progress, come back to base, and postpone your dreams for another year or another decade. Such is life.

Beware of Cinderella stories, of success won quickly without any setbacks. Because an effortless win, without pain, or tears, or moments that provoke weak knees or tight stomachs, is a win that cannot last. There is no glory in failure, but there is no shame in it either, because failure does not exist unless we give it permission to paralyze or demoralize us.

The real lessons of life are understood when you develop the clarity, commitment, confidence and courage to overcome setbacks and transform your passion into something that makes a permanent and positive difference around you.

Persevere. The adventure is lived not at the destination, but in the journey.

Facebook for Solopreneurs: About Personal, Fan and Group pages

Facebook is a great tool to establish a loyal network, demonstrate your competence and build trust and credibility. However, to do so, you need to understand how to position yourself on Facebook in an effective manner.

As a solopreneur on Facebook, you need to set up three kinds of pages:


1. Your personal page, under your own real name.

The basic building block of Facebook is the personal page, where you show your real self. You seek out friends and friends will seek you out based on your personal name, building a personal network, the basic network of Facebook.

On Facebook, almost any type of business, Fan or Group page must first be created by an identifiable individual, which is why having a personal page is important.

You must use a personal name for your personal page. Even if most of what you post on your personal wall is about your business project, this is not the place to make offers or solicit clients. Also, remember that everything you post on your personal page goes out to all of your Facebook Friends, so only share information that builds on the personal positioning you want to project.

Having a personal page also builds your personal credibility and helps people begin to trust you. Remember: people don't get excited about doing business with businesses, they prefer to do business with people.

2. A Fan page, under your business name.

Your Fan page is the "personal page" of your business, and is where people join to keep in touch about your business. By joining your Fan page, they give you permission for you to contact them specifically about your business. You can also post updates about what your business is doing. Your Fans can also post comments on your business wall. With a Fan page you have a lot of control over what is posted.

People who join as a Fan of your business may or may not be a personal "Facebook Friend" of your personal page (this is a good thing). It is also a kind of vote of confidence in your business.

Setting up a Fan page is somewhat hidden: Go to the bottom of your Personal page, click "Advertising" then at the top of the Advertising page click "Pages" then on the Pages page click the green "Create a new page" button. Then follow the prompts. There is no charge to have a Fan page for your business.

3. One (or several) Group pages, each focusing on a specific offer or interest.

Your Group pages focus on a specific area of interest (your target market) or offers (like your Standing Invite of a teleclass, webinar or web radio show). On Group pages you can set up events or notices. Group pages are like a mailing list for your specific Standing Invite Offer.

Be careful not to have too many Group pages, however you should have at least one Group page representing your key Standing Invite.

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The three types of Facebook pages are designed to work together. Do not try to shortcut the process by trying to set up a personal page with your business name. Sooner or later you will hit a wall and all your work will be wasted.

This may be a bit confusing at first, but once you get started establishing a Facebook presence, after 3 to 6 months you can have a great platform to build your network, and demonstrate your competence and credibility. Asking for help from a coach will shorten the development cycle and accelerate your results.

For more information about getting started with Facebook, check out my article "How to get started on Facebook as a solopreneur" http://en.davender.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=31

Happy and prosperous Facebooking!