Prepare for your success or mark time in mediocrity

Are YOU ready for YOUR success?

This question hit me hard and personally.

I’ve never pictured myself or my brand as mediocre. Who does? But it was more than evident the day that huge opportunity knocked on my door.  I wasn’t ready.

I woke up in the morning and checked my email, twitter, etc. There was a message from a friend @cafedave letting me know that @chrisbrogan had mentioned me in his newsletter.  I should be thrilled? Right?  I find the reference:

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You’re Doing It Right

You know who does it right, but who rarely gets the attention? The outliers, the fringe players, the people who don’t represent the mainstream. I’ve got three people who I think are doing wonderful things, but who some of you might not see eye-to-eye with. That’s the point, friends. There are many ways to the goal in this game. Here’s my list. (Depending on your work policies, these links might not be considered safe for work.)

Mistress Mia – http://www.mistressmia.com – She’s from Australia, and is showing people what’s right by keeping naughty marketers in line. There’s so much depth to Mia, and following her perspective is a chance to learn a great deal.

Kelly Shibari - http://hourglass8.com/ – Kelly spoke on my stage at an Inbound Marketing Summit. She helps people in the adult industry use social media tools to build their business. The adult industry has been down in revenue at a pace almost identical to the Wall Street Journal over the past few years. Same reason: no one pays for what they can get for free. Kelly’s helping people figure out new models.

Geo Geller – http://www.twittamentary.com – Geo is a professional insultant. He doesn’t tell you want you want to hear; he tells you what you need to know. Geo is also a filmmaker, a legendary disruptor of business, and a brilliant artist of many media. His latest project is called Twittamentary. With Geo, take the whirlwind and extrapolate from his wild ideas. He’s a man you should come to love.

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I was of course thrilled and humbled by the opportunity Chris had given … but let me stress this … Chris and I have been sharing ideas online for a year previous to this and I did not get a heads up.  No warning, it just happened.

People of influence are observing every day, they measure you, they know B.S. from substance and when it is relevant they will shine the light on you – ready or not, the light is coming your way.

I was not ready. My server melted within one hour of what I now call “the Brogan effect” I of course had been asleep … damn those timezones. No website I have ever owned over ten years has ever exceeded the server bandwidth, let alone melted it beyond recovery.

So Rah! this happened to me. What does this mean to you?

• Back up your blog NOW!
• Get a dedicated server. Being cheap won’t help you when the traffic flood comes your way.
• Hang your shingle – let people know that you are open to do business, what you do and what you charge.
• Get wet!  Jump all the way in. Back yourself.
• Write for today, it’s all you have. You can’t mark time for anyone.

My blog needed to be rebuilt. @rich_evans from http://redd.com.au came to my rescue and has done a stellar job getting my Thesis Theme back into line. The loss of content made it clear that everything that is past is gone. Social media is about today.  What are you doing to be ready today?