By Michael Angier
 

Web SuccessNet.org

 

Seven Ways We Got to Be Seven Years Old

Success Networks International was launched on January 1st of 1996. We are now seven years old. And last year was the best ever—in many ways.

In the course of the last seven years, we've done many things wrong. We've tried things that didn't work and sometimes stayed with them longer than we should have. We've missed opportunities and were slow to take advantage of some that we finally did.

But in the long haul, we apparently did more things right than wrong. Only one in six businesses makes it to their seventh birthday. And you can count on us being the one in nine that makes it to their tenth.

None of this could have happened without great members like you. We thank you for being there. We thank you for your confidence in us. And we sincerely thank you for your business.

What follows are some of the key factors responsible for us being able to celebrate our seventh birthday.

1. We knew what we wanted.
Our vision was pretty clear: build a community of people from around the world who want to be successful. We wanted to be a trusted resource for information, inspiration and ideas that help people and organizations operate at their best.

The way to achieve this wasn't always clear, but we were open and flexible about making it happen. We were mission-driven and vision-powered.

2. We kept our overhead low.
We had to. We didn't have any money to invest. We weren't sure what was going to work so we couldn't afford to spend much on something unless we were sure it would. Perhaps we could have done better if we'd grown faster, but not having any business debt and keeping our overhead to a minimum has really paid off.

3. Whenever possible we over-delivered on our promises.
We kept our promises and practiced FTA Energem #4: Give More to Get More. We kept our word. We did our best to meet every deadline. I still maintain my commitment to double the value of our membership program every two years.

4. We practiced CANI—Constant and Never-Ending Improvement.
I studied the masters. I studied marketing. I studied the Internet and affiliate marketing. We were constantly looking for and trying better ways to deliver our products and services—faster, less costly, easier.

5. We used the power of the master mind
I had a master mind—sometimes several—throughout the years. Some were project- or subject-specific and others were just plain good support. We also partnered with others in real win-win joint ventures.

6. We hung in there.
We were—at least for the most part—consistent and persistent. We tried to be a plow horse and not just a show horse. We kept what worked and dropped what didn't. And we did it every day. 

7. We stayed focused on what mattered.
Especially over the last couple of years, we've had good metrics. You can't change what you don't measure and understand. And we've developed scores of ways to monitor every aspect of our business. Interestingly enough only a small percentage of these are financial.

I do my best to focus on three things every day: 1. Increasing exposure and traffic. 2. Enhancing real and perceived value to our members. 3. Improving our systems and organizing and automating what we do so it works better.

We've learned a lot in the past 84 months and we expect to learn even more in the years ahead. We'll do our best to share our findings with you.

Editor's Note: Order our free report: Ten Pillars of a World-Class Business by sending an email to wcb@SuccessNet.org

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