read the manual

Read the Manual!

Read the Manual!

 

read the manualHey everyone,

I’m going to tell you a true story.

A few years back I was a member of a particular forum. I can’t recall what forum it was or what it was even about, but I clearly remember one of its members posting a thread that asked a question about how to do a particular thing using a particular product.

The answer was very straight-forward and could be found quickly and easily in the manual of the particular product the person was asking about. So I posted the answer to the person’s query and just pointed out that perhaps he’d missed it in the manual, but the answer was actually explained very clearly on page such-and-such.

“Oh I don’t bother reading manuals. Who does that anyway?” was his response.

“Erm… people who want to know how to do things so that they don’t need to ask…?”

read the manualThis sparked a whole tirade of vitriol from various people about why you don’t need to read manuals.

Sure, if you’re part of a helpful community then it’s great to be able to ask questions and get the answer in there.

But surely it’s better to not have to ask in the first place?

The thing is, in many areas of society it’s reached the point where you are actually ridiculed and scorned for reading the manual.

Sure, that makes sense….

You’re the one who reads the manual and doesn’t need to ask pointless, silly, time-wasting questions, yet when someone who doesn’t read the manual needs help, who is it who comes to their aid and knows the answer? You. And why is that? Because you have read the manual.

Go figure. 🙄

But what does all this have to do with making money online?

 

Well, just think for a moment:

read the manualHow many e-books have you bought? How many courses?

Now the next question:

How many of them have you actually gone through and, more importantly, implemented?

Come on now, be honest!

I know that there will be some of you who are action-takers and that’s awesome.

But I’m betting that there will be a lot of you who are still yet to make your first real money online.

In fact, I’m betting that there will be many of you who are yet to make your first EVER money online!

Now, I do appreciate that there are many false promises out there and many products that are simply trash.

But all too often, our failing to get anywhere is not the fault of the product.

It’s because we haven’t actually gone through it and applied it.

I’ve certainly been guilty of this myself.

I mean, it’s no good buying a course about list-building, not going through it properly and then complaining that you don’t know how to build your list!

Why do people do this?

Oftentimes it’s down to something that can be summarised in one word:

read the manualImpatience.

People want everything now. They don’t want to invest their time in preparing for something when they feel that they can just jump in and make do. And I chose that word – “invest” – purposefully.

We make many investments in our businesses and spending time to learn how to do things correctly should be one of them.

Now, you will possibly have heard me quote Alex Jeffreys‘ words many times: “Don’t get it perfect, just get it going.” I believe that this is spot-on, that you shouldn’t spend an inordinate amount of time analysing and trying to perfect everything without taking action.

But here’s the thing:

If you have spent money on learning how to do something then jolly-well go through it!

Likewise, if you have invested money in training and you are taught to do something in a particular way, blooming-well follow it! Worse still, don’t skip bits of the training, try to do things you own way and then complain that the training or product doesn’t work!

Imagine this: a car manufacturer sets out to build a car and has a blueprint that outlines the exact components and precise steps that need to be taken. Would it make sense for him to say, “Oh I can’t be bothered with all that. I don’t really need it, I’ll just jump into the building side of it”?

No, of course it wouldn’t. The likelihood would be that he would cock things up very quickly and in a very big way.

It would be much wiser for that car manufacturer to familiarise himself fully with the blueprint, stick to it and apply what it outlines for him.

It’s the same with making money online.

Want access to the proven blueprint that’s helped 100s to make their first ever money online?

 

There are specific ways to do things and proven, tested strategies that work. But what’s the point in investing in learning these if you’re not going to follow them or investing in a particular program or course if you’re not going to go through and apply the training?

What happens?

You get stuck, you get frustrated and you start complaining: “It doesn’t work!”

Well actually, yes it does work. It’s YOU that doesn’t!

Put the work in. Put the time in. Go through any training you may have and apply it.

The time it takes you to guess how to do something, use trial and error and sit there getting frustrated and impatient could have been spent in going through the relevant training and learning how to do things properly, thus reducing the chances of problems or failure later.

If you’re still stuck then yes, you may need further help and yes, a particular product may not be all its cracked up to be.

But if you can’t be bothered to work through some particular product or training from A-Z, can you really, honestly claim that it doesn’t work?

In short, whatever it is that you are doing – read the blinking manual!

Next Week

 

***BREAKING NEWS!*** All search engines are soon to be closed down!”

How would your blog survive without search engines? What kind of an impact would that announcement have on your life as a blogger?

Be sure to stop by next week to learn how I would deal with it.

Don’t forget to subscribe to be alerted as to when my post goes live and please remember to share this post across your social networks. 🙂

About Me

Glenn is a Certified iPro Masters Partner

6 thoughts on “Read the Manual!”

  1. Hi Glenn,

    Great post and is so true about finding the answers in the manual or course. It’s getting over the fear of finding the answers ourselves and applying them. It feels so good to accomplish something on my own and putting it into action.

    I had a terrible time learning how to send out solo ads but I kept on trying and still got it wrong. I asked one of our partners for help, Jerry Handy because I really didn’t understand the training. He helped me immensely and then Dean changed the training and now I know how to do them correctly. Dean’s new training made it real simple.

    Thank you for reminding me to use the manual!

    You have a wonderful weekend,

    Linda
    Linda Schrier recently posted…Growth In Internet MarketingMy Profile

    1. Hi Linda,

      You see, that’s where you differ. You’re an action-taker and are prepared to learn, so asking questions when you’ve attempted to learn something but don’t quite grasp it is perfectly fine and to be encouraged. But the problem is when people are just too lazy or stubborn to go through something in the first place. That’s why you’re the type of person who will have success – you are prepared to put the work in. 🙂

      Thanks for visiting, Linda. Have a great week. 🙂

      »Glenn«
      Glenn Shepherd recently posted…Can You Really Make Money Blogging?My Profile

  2. Hi Glenn,

    You are spot on with this! I have heard so many people who have purchased the same product I have and bashed it. I read the manual and applied it and thought it was better than ice cream!

    They are the complainers who don’t read the manual and better yet, never take action on one single thing! It is amazing how some people think. We have to get our hands dirty out there and apply what we have learned.

    I had some purchase my product and never took advantage of the phone consult I give them for free. Then they email me with questions. I ask them if they went through the entire product because the answer to their question is there. “No…not yet it was too long” Sigh

    When I tell them the purpose of the phone consult (specifically spelled out) is for them to have a chance to see where they want to go with their business and how I can fine tune things for them, they didn’t read that one either.

    Yes, read the manual!!!

    Thanks so much for writing about this topic. It is one that people need to know.

    -Donna
    Donna Merrill recently posted…Best 3 Ways To Brand YourselfMy Profile

    1. Hi Donna,

      Yes, many people are just lazy, I’m afraid. What they don’t seem to be able to grasp, though, is that it’s a kind of false economy. They skip over things because they “can’t be bothered” and feel that by doing so they’re saving time. Yet, when they run into difficulties or end up having questions arising that wouldn’t have done so if they’d gone read the instructions, gone through the training, etc, this can often end up costing them more time in the long run!

      Screwy, screwy and screwy!

      Thanks for lending your support to the cause! 😉

      »Glenn«
      Glenn Shepherd recently posted…“All Search Engines Are Soon to Be Closed Down!”My Profile

  3. Hey Glenn,

    I was shaking my head agreeing you actually.

    I got an email from a blogging friend and yes, he’s bought some products from me. The problem is that he’s always asking me for help instead of going to the site and watching the videos. Now you know me, I always want to help but not when I know you’re taking advantage of my time because you’re too lazy to look for the answer yourself.

    I helped him with his last question, gave him screenshots, reminded him to watch the videos and then told him that he’s going to have to put forth much more effort moving forward because I can’t keep taking time out of my day to respond to him when he’s not even willing to find this answer himself. Know what his response was? I thought it was going to be harder than that to figure out so I just wanted you to explain it to me first.

    You are SO right. People complain that they’re doing horribly yet they aren’t willing to put forth the time, read the darn manual and then take action. I have one friend who just loves to buy stuff yet never uses any of it but continues to not only complain that she’s doing horribly but now she’s in so much debt from buying all the stuff she’s never used.

    Yeah, I could rant myself but I think that’s it. Great share, great post and gosh I wish people would wake up.

    ~Adrienne
    Adrienne recently posted…How To Rediscover Your Desire For BloggingMy Profile

    1. Hey Adrienne,

      I can sooooo relate to that! Just like you, I’m always willing and, indeed, eager to help people out if and when I can. But I’m sure that you have found the same thing as I have, that once you become a bit more established and people start looking up to you, you get more and more pleas for help. But here’s the thing: if they come from people to whom you’ve provided a product or if they’re part of a program you’re in, you soon notice a pattern. They end up being the same type of questions and they are all things that are covered in the particular product. Sure, sometimes things just don’t ‘click’ for certain people and sure, things can be missed, but more often than not people just will not go from A to Z. They take a look at A, jump over to Z, then go to E, then rush ahead to S and then back to Z again. It’s then that they complain that things aren’t working for them.

      I think the shiny object syndrome will always be here. People get into a mindset whereby they want things to happen and they want them now. With the stresses of life that people can experience it’s perfectly understandable. But the frustrating thing is when you know that a particular thing will work so long as you follow the training, yet some people won’t follow it! Or they only follow bits of it and skip over other bits. The end result will be the same in both cases.

      I could go on…..!

      Thanks for stopping by, Adrienne, always a pleasure to see you and read your insights. Thanks for sharing and adding weight to this important issue. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. 🙂

      »Glenn«
      Glenn Shepherd recently posted…Change Your Thinking, Change Your LifeMy Profile

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