championWhat a great weekend!

I got to share my son’s celebration, year-end team meeting for his Novice Hockey Championship winning team – something I wouldn’t have guessed I would have been attending 8-months ago when the season started.

To put in bluntly, his team was the absolute worst in terms of skill, effort, and any other category you could come up with when things kicked off back in September…

But…we just finished up a 4-playoff finish to the season that saw them beat every single team in their division – even 1 who had not lost a single game all season!

Each game, the excitement grew. Suddenly, a bunch of quiet, reflective parents took notice of what was happening here, got behind the team 150%…what a magical feeling it was to be part of something that taught so much to our kids.

I have to admit I had a tear in my eye when their team went off the last game to a rousing rendition of “We are the Champions” – but what I remember most is the smiles, the hugs and amazing feeling of winning that these kids will draw upon so many times in their lives as they grow up.

Now, Dad being the marketer he is…just had to think about how a poorly skilled team without the passion needed to win suddenly changed 360-degrees and became the biggest winner of them all within 8-months — and dammit if I didn’t come up with 3 factors that may just relate to your business success:

  • These kids may not have started out with a passion to win, but they sure learned to enjoy themselves playing the game of hockey. They didn’t put themselves first, but rather the team bacame the objective each week during practice and game days. While leaders on other teams were busy honing their own skills and confidence, when it came right down to it they didn’t do the little team things that it takes to win. In business, you will need to be part of a team – you will need partners, affiliates, customers, subscribers, – the more you cultivate your team, the better your results will be
  • Practice the fundamentals. When other teams were playing “fun” games instead of practicing the boring fundamental skills, our team was locked into learning the most fundamental skills that would give them the ability to outplay their opponent in the long run. For hockey, skating, balance, puck handling, body position, passing, making quick decisions, thinking defensively are all fundamental to success. In your business, the fundamentals are: a sound plan, market analysis and positioning, “reading” your market, content development, copywriting, list building, communicating with your subscribers, and setting up a strong back-end. Over at Information Marketer’s Zone we emphasize the fundamentals showing our members how to master each of these areas and build a strong, powerful and growing online business.
  • Work hard and keep moving. Our coach taught the kids something right before the second to last game on the way to the Championship that was simply AMAZING – he suggested that working extra hard and continuing to take action would not only lead to better results – but would intimidate and “freak out” the other team lowering their confidence and ability. In business, you can follow the same principle – the appearance of someone who takes action, who gets things done, who tries new approaches, who is not afraid to try things that may not work out as first planned intimidates your competition and attracts winners to your side.
  • Oh, and something else I was proud to be able to say this year is that I did not miss 1 single game or practice (and I believe there were somewhere around 78 1-hour practices and games) from September to April this year – a large part of that is due to my decision to build my own businesses – putting me in much more control of my time and schedule. Sometimes it’s a pain working until 2 AM to meet a deadline, but at the end of the day, it’s worth it to see every one of my kid’s hockey events.

    If you’re ready to take action, take control of your own schedule, become a winner and have something to show your kids, family and friends in the next 8-12 months, then join all of the winners over at Information Marketer’s Zone – we’ll be happy to see you there.