What I teach my students and members of my team is that there are 3 main phases or steps that they will need to go through and experience whilst they progress through the steep learning curve and finally get to the stage where they are self sufficient and can build and grow their own online business into a profitable and successful entity. I call these phases DISCOVER, LEARN and APPLY and I like to think of them as being like a set of traffic lights on your road to online success.

DISCOVER…

Discover is about understanding and coming to the realisation that you have been sitting at the ‘red traffic light‘ on your path to achieving online success. You may have not been aware up until now that there are limitless opportunities right now waiting for you on the Internet. You may also use the Internet in your everyday life but you probably haven’t realised the potentially life-changing business possibilities that are out there waiting for you to grab a hold of.

The Discover phase is what I also sometimes call the ‘awakening’. It can be a profound realisation for some people. In my own case, I thought that being an IT consultant for all those years I was an ‘expert’ about the Internet, but it wasn’t until I actually met people who were earning more in a month than I was earning in year, whilst working from home AND spending time with their families, did I realise what an amateur I really was.

“…you have been sitting at the ‘red traffic light’ on your path to achieving online success.”

The Discover phase is basically about having the ‘awareness’ that the Internet exists and that there is such a thing as an online business. What surprises a lot of my team members when I first mention this is that they suddenly realise that they are already there…that they have already completed the first stage of their path to success.

Because, let’s be honest…it takes a fair bit of skill to get to the stage where someone can get online, understand the concept of the Internet, do some research via a search engine like Google or Yahoo, and then discover that there  are unlimited opportunities out there on the Internet to actually generate themselves an income. And if they are committed, and willing to learn, a very substantial income!

I don’t think people realise that simply by contacting me via email, subscribing to my list, phoning me or connecting with me via Twitter, Facebook, etc, that they have already taken significant steps to achieving their goals of financial independence.

So by the simple fact that you have found this website and are reading this, you have already proven that you have the brains and the willingness to learn and you most probably have a very good chance of succeeding online with the right guidance and knowledge.

LEARN…

Learn is the ‘amber light‘ phase, when you’re gearing up and getting ready and preparing for your online business. This is the stage when you commit yourself to begin to research and learn as much as you can about what starting and running an online business is all about. This is the hardest part of the entire process of becoming an online success. This is where a lot of people simply give up.

It is a daunting task to face up to the avalanche of information you will undoubtedly encounter on the road to online success, but it isn’t impossible. There are many who have gone before you and have proven that achieving great success online is not only possible, it can be a damn lot of fun as well!

One the most important things you will require during this phase, and this is something that practically all Internet entrepreneurs attest to being key to their success, is access to a mentor. I attribute much of my success to people I have met online and at social networking events and seminars, and being able to tap into their wealth of experience and knowledge when I needed to get a problem solved was fundamental to me not becoming an online failure.

Having a mentor you can bounce ideas off makes life so much easier. You don’t have to run around buying excessively expensive software or training material only to discover it wasn’t what you have hoped for. You don’t have to spend hour after hour online researching something only to find out that the technology is either obsolete or not viable.

“…key to their success, is access to a mentor.”

I have been able to act as a mentor to many newcomers to the online business industry and get an enormous amount of satisfaction when I’m able to help someone with a particular problem or give them some advice or guidance. Obviously it benefits me when my team members are doing well, but money aside, I can think of no other business I would rather be doing when I’m able to see the changes that I have been able to bring to people’s lives by teaching them how they can generate an income from home with an online business.

APPLY…

Apply is the final step to online success. This is the green ‘GO!’ light signal for you to apply what you have learnt about running an online business and start an online business of your own. This is an exciting time for a lot of people as this is when they start seeing the practical benefits to what they have learnt.

Again, this a crucial time in which a lot of people fall by the wayside. Sometimes they misjudge how effective their marketing strategies are, or they run out of funds by advertising ineffectively, or they simply find that they don’t have the commitment to push on and continue with their efforts.

So, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise…you CAN be successful. The only thing stopping you is yourself. No-one else can do this for you, but there are plenty of people out there who can help you. All you need to do is ask!

Over the few days between Xmas and New Year, I had an opportunity to join the ‘non-Internet’ world again as my parents-in-law live on a farm without broadband and wifi.

Whilst enjoying the views of the ocean and rainforest around me, I happened to read an article in the Australian Financial Review titled “The Prince Charles Syndrome”.

The basic premise of the piece was that whilst the Baby Boomer generation are starting to reach retirement age and leave the corporate environment, Gen X (born 65-79) are starting to be overtaken by the current tech-savvy upstarts, Gen Y. This phenomenon has been compared to a similar situation (dubbed the Prince Charles Syndrome) with the current heir to the English throne as speculation rises that Charles could possibly either die or get overtaken to the throne by Prince William and thus never fulfil his ambition to being crowned King of England.

It got me thinking – with the speed at which technology changes, is there a danger that normal people will be left behind? And to be more specific, will entrepreneurs need to embrace technology or will they survive without it?

Seeing we’ve just started a new decade, I did some research and came up with some interesting facts based on how technology has progressed in the last 10 years since 2000.

At the start of 2000:

* There were NO major social networks (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace)
* There was no online video sharing to speak of (YouTube was founded in 2005!)
* Only .03% of US households had broadband (current penetration is 67%)
* Only 15% of US households had a mobile phone (current figure around 90%)
* MP3 players were almost unknown (today around 75% ownership)
* There was no paypal or similar 3rd party payment system

And my favourite statistic – No-one really used Google (it was founded in 1999).

There is an ever-increasing Digital Divide between people who have the skills and knowledge to use the Internet in their daily lives and those that don’t. The developments of the last 10 years will also pale into comparison when compared with the advancements in techology predicted over the next 10 years. If the effects of the Internet over the past decade have been so amazing now, what sort of effects will the Internet have on our lives in this new decade!

The Digital Divide between those empowered with Internet knowledge, skills and availability and those that don’t will be immense.

I feel relieved that I have the last 20 years of IT industry experience to help me ease into whatever technologies may arise, and I take great comfort in the fact that my children have access to my knowledge on a one-to-one level.

But my overriding concern is for those people not only in the Western world, but those less fortunate who don’t have the opportunity to experience and participate in the online world. Only a very small percentage of people actually actively participate on forums, blogs and other social networks. These people, this miniscule minority, will become the future leaders and visionaries as they will have the knowledge to utilise these new Internet technologies that will pervade every aspect of our lives.

The famous saying by Sir Francis Bacon “Knowledge is Power” is going to be the ultimate truth in the years to come, and I for one will make sure that I’m on the side that has the power.

You are one of the lucky ones; you have been blessed with the myriad of opportunities that eventually allowed you to get access to the Internet and read blog posts like this one. You are aware of the unlimited potential benefits and opportunities that are afforded you simply because you now how to harness the ‘Net.

But don’t be complacent – keep up with the latest technologies as they arise and learn how to implement and incorporate them into everything possible, for it is the knowledge of how to use these technologies that will effect your future in more ways than you ever thought possible.

I’ve leave you with one last statistic for you. At the moment, only 25% of the world has access to the Internet in some form or another. What sort of effect do you think another several billion people in the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will have on your potential market base when they come online? Are you going to be there to welcome them?