{"id":1495,"date":"2009-10-27T07:01:52","date_gmt":"2009-10-27T12:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dobermandan.com\/?p=1495"},"modified":"2010-01-13T01:48:44","modified_gmt":"2010-01-13T06:48:44","slug":"the-truth-about-auto-pilot-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dobermandan.com\/blog\/the-truth-about-auto-pilot-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"The Truth About “Auto Pilot” Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, 4:16 PM<\/p>\n

Dear Friend,<\/p>\n

It’s almost clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Everywhere you turn you hear about how easy it is to start an online business that runs on “auto pilot”.<\/p>\n

That’s right… you hardly have to do ANYTHING. Just sit back and watch the money roll in 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

You can live anywhere you want and travel for months on end… and when you come home your business is still humming along making big fungolas 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

You only have to put in a couple hours a month overseeing a few things. All the systems and 3rd party companies do all the work while you’re goofing off for months at a time.<\/p>\n

Yes, that’s right… it’s easy as pie!<\/p>\n

You hardly have to do anything<\/em>… just sit back and watch the “Benjamins” stack up miles high in your bank account.<\/p>\n

My only response is…<\/p>\n

BULLSHIT!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pardon my French… but I really think that’s the most appropriate word to describe that kind of chicanery promoted so much on the Net.<\/p>\n

Let me be one of the few people to tell you the truth about financial independence with an online direct response business.<\/p>\n

First of all, it ain’t easy… and that’s a GOOD thing.<\/p>\n

If it were easy, every Tom, Dick and Harry would do it. (Probably a lot more Dicks than Toms and Harrys.)<\/p>\n

And the simple fact that it takes a little effort, planning, self education, initiative and self discipline automatically precludes about 98% of the population. That means there’s way less competition for people like us who actually DO something and follow through.<\/p>\n

It’s true I’ve started and built several businesses that could be described as “auto pilot”. They allowed me to live anywhere I wanted (I even lived outside the US for a while) and didn’t tie me down to things like packing and shipping products, answering the phones, etc. I hired other people to do those things for me.<\/p>\n

And it’s true back in 2006 I took two years off, goofed around, played music and did pretty much whatever I wanted while my business and income actually grew.<\/p>\n

So it IS possible.<\/p>\n

Here’s what the people promoting these “auto pilot” business opportunities DON’T tell you…<\/p>\n

A couple years before my “goof off for 2 years and watch my business grow” period, my business was NOT on auto pilot. I pretty much did everything myself along with some help from my wife.<\/p>\n

And I worked a lot. Evenings, weekends, weekdays… it didn’t matter. I worked whatever hours were needed to get things done. (The complete OPPOSITE of the employee mentality.)<\/p>\n

Here’s the most important part:<\/p>\n

About a year prior to my 2 years on complete auto pilot, I completely focused on the business and…<\/p>\n

I Worked My BUTT Off!<\/strong><\/p>\n

By that time, I farmed out product fulfillment and customer service so that freed up more time to focus on marketing.<\/p>\n

I was also extremely motivated by possible starvation and homelessness… so I did whatever it took to grow my business.<\/p>\n

I actually WAS homeless and staying in fleabag motels during this period. I had lost EVERYTHING. It’s a story for another time.<\/p>\n

(The “Reader’s Digest” version can be summed up by the words of a Jimmy Buffett song… “Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame…”)<\/p>\n

Anyhoo, my back was against the wall. (That’s usually when I do my best work.)<\/p>\n

When I was finally able to stop living out of my car and shady motels, I rented a small apartment. The only furniture I had was two big cardboard boxes filled with #10 envelopes from a failed direct mailing. I set my laptop on top of those and spent 12 to 14 hours a day there writing copy and coming up with new marketing ideas.<\/p>\n

That went on for months.<\/p>\n

For almost that entire year I worked like a man possessed, gave up all social opportunities, lost sleep, and invested every spare penny in my business. I literally had NOTHING but those cardboard boxes I used as a desk and a small swivel chair I bought at Staples.<\/p>\n

So an “auto pilot” business sounds really sexy, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

It IS sexy… and it IS possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The real question is, are you willing to pay the price for it?<\/p>\n

Because there’s a price to be paid… and THAT is the hard part.<\/p>\n

All the best,
\"dobedansig_sm12\"<\/p>\n

P.S. I haven’t actually confirmed this… but I may be the very first guy on the Internet to finally reveal the TRUTH about what it takes to have an auto-pilot business.<\/p>\n

Here’s something else nobody ever talks about…<\/p>\n

Your business can be on complete auto pilot and you can take years off like I did… but it’s always for a limited time.<\/p>\n

My business continued growing because it had so much momentum from the two years of intense work I invested.<\/p>\n

But nothing in this world is maintaining. It’s either growing or dying. After a while, you gotta work hard just to MAINTAIN. Even harder if you want it to grow.<\/p>\n

That’s not only true for your business… it’s true about your health, your relationships, your spiritual life. Actually EVERYTHING.<\/p>\n

You’re never just maintaining. You’re either growing or dying based on the decisions you make every day.<\/p>\n

And trust your old pal, DD. You’ll be wayyyyyy happier if you choose to grow.<\/p>\n

Rock on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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