The Dirk Tietjen Blog » Passiontest

Discover Your Talents ala Brian Tracy

Dirk Tietjen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:03:08 +0000

I have talked about finding your passions in this Blog before. Here is another great essay which can help finding the right business:

When we do strategic planning for corporations, the first thing we think about is how to increase the company’s rate of return on the equity it has invested in the business. This is done by allocating more resources to areas with higher potential, and taking resources away from those with lower potential. By developing or promoting newer and better products and services, and discontinuing those that are less profitable, the company can channel its efforts in a way that maximizes its returns.

In doing personal strategic planning, the first thing you want to think about is how to maximize your personal “rate of return.” You need to realize that the most valuable thing you bring to your work is your ability to think, to act, and to get results. Your earning ability — which is a function of your education, knowledge, experience, and talents — is your equity. And the way you “invest” it will largely determine the quality and quantity of your material and psychological rewards.

A young man in one of my seminars came up to me and said that he was working as a plumber for a large contracting firm. He made good money, but he was envious of the salespeople in his company who made more money, drove nicer cars, wore nicer clothes, and had much better lifestyles.

He had completed his training, had his journeyman’s certificate, and was at the top of his wage scale. The only way he could earn more money in his current job was by working longer hours. Instead, he wanted to get into sales.

I told him that if he wanted to get into sales, it was up to him to learn how to sell — and then to do everything possible to get his boss to give him the chance to sell the company’s plumbing services. His future was up to him. But he first had to learn how to do the new and higher-paying job.

A little more than a year later, he attended another one of my seminars… and brought me up to date on his situation. He had told his boss that he wanted to get into sales. His boss discouraged him, telling him that plumbers have very little aptitude for the skills involved in selling a service. He then asked his boss what he would have to do to prove to him that he could do it. To make a long story short, his boss helped him learn how to sell the company’s services by recommending that he study manuals and take extra courses on his own time.

And that’s what he did. He bought books and listened to tapes and spent time talking to the company’s salespeople. As a result, he became a full-fledged salesman.

After five months in his new job, he was already earning more than twice as much as he had ever earned as a plumber. But most of all, he was happier.

He was more enthusiastic about his work than he had ever been. He loved selling, and he considered his career change to be one of the best decisions he had ever made.

This is typical of countless stories that have been related to me over the years. In every case, the individual had discovered and developed his or her strengths — and, subsequently, improved the quality of his or her life. You can do the same thing.

Thinking of yourself passively — as being employed and, therefore, subject to the dictates of someone else — can be fatal to your long-term success. In reality, you’re the president of your own personal-services corporation. You’re completely in charge of production, quality control, training and development, marketing, finance, and promotion.

Seeing yourself as self-employed forces you to recognize that you are also self-responsible and self-determining. That everything that happens to you happens because of your conduct and your behavior. You’re in the driver’s seat. You’re behind the steering wheel of your life. It’s up to you to decide how to utilize your talents and abilities in such a way as to bring you the very highest return on the investment of your time and energy.

No one else is going to do it for you. Others can help you, guide you, direct you, channel you, point you in the right direction, and even give you opportunities.

But in the final analysis, you’re the boss. No one else can make the critical decisions that will determine your future and your fortune. To that end, here are four questions that you need to ask yourself on a regular basis:

1. What do I most enjoy doing?

2. How would I describe my ideal job?

3. If I could have any job at all, anywhere, what would it be?

4. If I won a million dollars in the lottery and I had to pick something to work at indefinitely, what would I choose to do?

To uncover your strengths and determine your unique talents and abilities, ask yourself:

What have I been good at in the past?
What things do I do easily that seem to be difficult for other people?
In what areas of work do I seem to get the best results… and derive the most pleasure?

The answers to all of these questions will give you a good idea as to how you might increase your return on the energy you invest.

Then look at your current job, and ask yourself:

Where do I want to be in three to five years?
What kind of work do I want to be doing?
What kind of people do I want to be working with?
What level of responsibility do I desire?
What kind of money do I want to be earning?
What part of the country do I want to be living in?

Look at your work and at your life in general, and ask yourself:

What kind of people do I admire and most want to be like?

Who do I know, or know about, who is doing the kind of work that I want to do and isliving the kind of life that I want to live?

What changes would I have to make in my life to be like that person?

Remember: Whatever anyone has done, someone else can do as well. You’ll never be exactly the same as another person, but you don’t need to be. You can use the successes and achievements of other people as guidelines to help you decide where you want to arrive at the end of your particular journey. But you can be unique and different and successful in your own way.

As a result of your genetic structure, your education, your experiences, your background, your interests and proclivities, you’re a unique and rare combination of talents and abilities. You can be extremely good at something. And it’s your responsibility to find out what that something is.

Whatever you’re doing today, it’s nowhere near what you’re really capable of doing. The key to a happy and prosperous life is for you to regularly evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, to become very good in the areas you most enjoy, and then to throw your whole heart into what you’re doing.

By Brian Tracy

[Ed. Note: Relax and allow positive affirmations to flow through your subconscious mind. Feed your mind the fuel it needs while you rest. This powerful CD includes 10 powerful affirmations with music. You simply let yourself relax as Brian Tracy talks to your subconscious mind. Find out more here.

And for more help setting and achieving the goals that will get you your dream job, check out ETR's Ephiphany Alliance program. With Bob Cox as your mentor, you'll learn the time-management strategies and success techniques you need to accomplish more in one day than most people do in a week. Check out the Epiphany Alliance here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, Dirk

How to Produce an Expert Video When You’re Not an Expert

Dirk Tietjen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:06:40 +0000

A few years ago, I suffered from terrible back pain. It was so bad that I was taking steroid injections and trying every other pain-relieving method I could find. Looking online, I discovered that millions of others were going through the same ordeal. That’s when I had a brainstorm: If I could find a way to rid myself of my own back pain… maybe I could create a little side business by helping other people get relief at the same time. How was I going to do that? I had no idea. Then one night I was talking to an acquaintance, Jamie K., about my back. It turned out that Jamie was a certified physical trainer – and she had some stretching techniques that she was sure would help me. She taught me a few of her stretches on the spot, and it felt good. After performing those stretches for just a few weeks, I felt noticeably better. And after a few months, I felt better than I had in years. A light bulb went off in my head. I would produce an instructional video to help people use stretching to ease their back pain! I’d already produced a successful ballroom dance instruction video, so I had experience doing it. And that video was pretty easy for me to make. After all, I’d been a dance teacher for years, so I was qualified to teach the material myself. I was totally unqualified to teach others how to do stretching exercises – but Jamie was the perfect person to do it. That was the first instructional video where I hired an outside expert to be on camera. It turned out to be a bonanza that profited me over $5,000 within 48 hours of putting out my first ad. Three years later, I still regularly fill orders for that video. Realizing I could use outside experts in my instructional videos opened up a whole new world of opportunity. I no longer had to stick with skills I was personally adept at. My next video featured a very fit senior who had created his own exercise program for middle-aged and older men. That video brought in over $30,000 in 30 days. Now you might think it costs an arm and a leg to hire an expert to star in your videos. Sure, if you asked Tiger Woods to star in a golfing video for you, you’d need to shell out big-time. But it can be surprisingly inexpensive. For instance, I paid Jamie only $100 to do the back-stretching video. The instructional video business is an easy and fun way to make extra income. There’s a demand for how-to videos in just about every area of interest. So the opportunity to make money is practically unlimited – especially when you realize you don’t have to star in your videos yourself. Here are some guidelines to help you…

Here are some guidelines to help you…

* Choose a subject that you believe will fill a need in the marketplace.

Like I said, there’s a demand for videos in almost every area of interest. Just be sure the market isn’t too obscure. Let’s say you want to produce a video teaching people how to do magic tricks. Based on the fact that there are plenty of books and videos on the subject, you could guess that the market would be large enough for you to earn a reasonable profit. On the other hand, a video that teaches people how to identify the nest of the North American Spotted Owl would appeal to too small a market. You might find a handful of customers, but not enough to make the venture worthwhile.

* Figure out what you’re going to pay your expert.

When I was working with Jamie, she was employed by a spa where she made $15 an hour. I offered her $25 an hour for the time it took to shoot the video, which made her quite happy. But if, for example, you wanted to hire a lawyer to be your expert, you’d probably need to pay quite a bit more.

You can also go the royalty route by offering your expert a low upfront payment as well as a percentage of the video’s sales. This is often the better deal for both sides. It keeps your out-of-pocket costs down, and eases any worries he may have that he’ll get a piddling amount for his time… and then your video will wind up selling 100,000 copies.

I’ve found that offering a royalty of something like $1 per sale is usually well received. Even if your video ends up selling only 500 or 1,000 copies, your expert would still be getting a pretty good deal for a few hours’ work.

* Recruit your expert.

I’ve had a good deal of success advertising on Craig’s List for a variety of different experts. Those who responded to my ads were all well-qualified and willing to work for a reasonable fee.

You can also find experts in special-interest chat rooms on the Internet, via local newspaper classifieds, or sometimes through simple word of mouth.

* Get an agreement in writing.

I’m not an attorney, so I’m not able to offer you legal advice. But I can tell you that having a contract in writing is a good way to protect yourself and your experts. In my contracts, I always spell out very clearly what the compensation will be. In fact, I write in big, bold letters that this is the only compensation the expert will be getting and that no other promises have been made. My agreements also include a statement that says I own the full rights to the video, and can do whatever I please with it. And I include a clause that says I’m allowed to use the expert’s image, name, and material in any way I choose to promote the video.

You can find templates for contracts in the library or online that you can adapt to your purposes. But if you want to be sure you are fully covered, you should consider having an attorney write up a contract for you. Yes, this may cost a pretty penny. But you can use the same basic contract for every expert, so the cost won’t be that great in the long run.

Producing specialty videos is one of the best low-capital businesses you can get into. And by using outside experts, there is almost no limit to the number of subjects or markets you can appeal to.

By Paul Lawrence

[Ed. Note: Paul Lawrence is the creator of the Quick and Easy Microbusiness System, ETR’s program for starting a business for under $100. Learn more of Paul’s video-business secrets HERE.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money,

2 your learning success, Dirk

How to find your passions in online businesses

Dirk Tietjen — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 01:46:52 +0000

I talked about the importance of finding our true passions and talents before in this blog – only after finding out about those we will be able to find out our ideal online business income stream, too, which has the potential to lead to fulfilling of life dreams. Only oneself knows about our passions and talents, but if I say we know I mean we should know by observing ourself and I have been talking about a few techniques to make that process easier and faster. In fact most people dont really know about their true passions and talents when you ask them and mostly it takes time to find out after having followed different paths ruled by common sense before.

In the bestselling business book, Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters by Stewart Emery, Mark Thompson and Jerry Porras, more than 300 “enduringly” successful people were interviewed . These are people who have had 20+ years of impact on their fields in common. People like Sir Richard Branson, Michael Dell,Maya Angelou, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Lance Armstrong and Bill Gates were among them.

What did all these people have in common after all? One of the most important statements was that we must choose our own personal definition of success, rather than assume we need to follow anyone else’s path!

You can see some samples of the videos with these people here.

So the importance of finding our own path and not following other peoples footsteps once again leads to the necessity to find out about the own passion.
Plenty of literature is written telling you how important it is to live your passion.

But how is it actually done? Another important and succesfull tool for finding out exactly the own passions is the so-called „Passion Test”!

It shows us how to discover and live our passions.

Who is the test for?
A 2005 study by Harris Interactive found that only 20% of working Americans are passionate about their work. The remaining 80% are not satisfied as a consequence – not happy, not living passionate lives.

Why do 80% of the people dont live their dream?
The 80% of people who are not passionate, not happy, not fulfilled in their own lives are people who have “settled” with the „circumstances“ dont know enough about their passions and the importance of follwing those according to the book authors Janet and Chris Attwood. So their test is a very powerfull tool to find out about your true passions and well worth trying it out. As Marci Shimoff ( Co-Author of Chicken Soup for the Soul) put it “Simple, clear, powerful. The Passion Test is a remarkable tool for getting the clarity you need to begin living your dreams.”

The authors offer an the initial test here for free (small donation is expected).

Regards, Dirk

Online business – developing products on a “vision” or pre-testing?

Finding an online business niche – what color is your parachute?

Dirk Tietjen — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:40:51 +0000

Very often we hear people desperately asking themselves which niche they should choose for their internetbusiness. In order to get excellent results and have the endurance to walk through inevitable ups and downs that choice of niche should be taken deliberately. And it is a very personal choice. I suggest not to listen to the newest trend shouted over the markets in that task, but really looking at yourself and what you stand for.

What Color Is Your Parachute Workbook: How to Create a Picture of Your Ideal Job or Next Career? - that is the name of one of the most famous and bestselling job-hunting and career-changing books in the world. And it is the same questions which you find in that book doing a careerchange that you have to ask yourself finding your niche. Cause it is all ABOUT YOU. Not the market. Not the newest trend. Let the unique colours of your personality shine.

Then many people say, ” but I am not an expert in any field, I only have broad knowledge” – no unique colours shining. At first sight it seems to be true sometimes as who could call himself really an “expert” in one field. But then again we do spend so much time with our passions and hobbies voluntarily, there must be some expertise in these fields.

So here is my suggestion how to find your niche – ask yourself:

1) What do I like doing most?

- what are my hobbies?

- what activities seem effortless cause of the joy I am feeling?

- what gives me satisfaction?

-where do I loose the feeling of time cause I am totally involved with all senses(“flow”)?

-what could I just do for days without being bored?

-whats is my passion?

2) Where are my skills?

- do I have a special talent in some area?

- has anyone acknowledged certain things I did in the past?

- do my friends ask for any advice in some area?

-do I answer questions in forums?

- at my job – have I been the guy for certain tasks?

3) What would I stand up for?

- would I take a personal risk for some task?

- would I support any minority or discriminated group?

- what would I do even without being paid?

- would I risk a conflict with the laws or being ridiculed for any task?

4) Where do I see myself in my final port/What is my destiny?

- what am I here for on this earth?

- where can I be the exact right person in the exact right place?

- is there a place to be for me which I would call fate?

-will I and only I make the difference in any special location?

Going through the effort of answering these questions will give you some new insights about your special gift, talents, skills and your “expertise”. Your niche is “born”, maybe you found even two.

Acting and writing in that area as your future “niche” will not only give you satisfaction and joy, but will also take a lot less energy of your system, lets you stop counting the hours and lets you overcome any obstacles that might appear with ease. Also success will come a lot easier cause you love that area and are eager to read any information around that task anyway without having to do go through motivational procedures.

Once you have found that niche then focus all your attention on it and that is what would bring you a larger income stream later. If your are interested to investigate your talents more this book is really of great help:

—Dirk