I had a very similar conversation with several people this past week.
They were all telling me basically the same thing. “Hey Jim, you’ve been around for 20 years selling online, and we’ve seen other guys come and go, but you’re still going strong like the energizer bunny. Why?”
That made me stop and really think.
And I think the main reason I’m still here and some people aren’t is that I’ve adapted.
I’ve changed with the times whereas other people are waiting for things to change back to the way they used to be.
Things change pretty fast now, especially online. Like Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast.”
But things on the internet move even faster.
That’s why we need to learn principles.
Principles like copywriting, which will never change. Catching people’s attention, driving their interests, getting them to take action… those principles will never change.
However, the mechanics of how we’ve applied those principles HAVE changed (and will continue to do so).
Think about putting up a web presence. It used to be html pages, then it became WordPress, and now it’s video sales letters and social media and ClickFunnels.
So adapting to change, along with the ability to consistently apply principles, is how you move forward into the future successfully.
Think about life like a highway. A lot of people pull over to the rest stops on the highway and they say, “You know what, this looks like a good spot. It’s comfortable here. I’m gonna stop here.”
The problem is that traffic keeps on moving. Pretty soon there’s new highway built. The little places where everybody previously stopped to spend their money become ghost towns because nobody drives down that old road anymore.
And yet people hang on waiting for things to change back.
That’s probably the biggest mistake that you can make in online business: waiting for things to change back. They’re never, EVER going to change back.
Nothing will ever go back to the way it was.
So if you’re making money and then something changes, and you stop making money or you’re gradually making less and less and less at something… you need to go do something different.
Because it’s not gonna change back! NEVER. EVER.
So if you’re waiting for people to pay you for your course about how to create MP3 files and sell them from your HTML website, it’s never gonna friggin’ happen.
We’ve all got to learn how to adapt. We’ve all got to learn how to roll with the changes.
But as we roll with the changes we must constantly apply the principles we learn along the way that will never change.
So, that’s the lesson: stick with proven principles and adapt to the changes.
Do that, and you’ll be just fine!