The way we handle problems is one of the distinguishing features of those who become successful, and those who let circumstances get in the way. It's almost a given that at some point along the way, whatever we are trying to do, we will be confronted with obstacles. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the business world. And the online, home business arena is certainly no different.



Despite the many offers for instant, turn key businesses, there are still circumstances that can change, things that can seemingly go wrong, and ideas that can fail to lead to any profitable results.

As an example, I recently found an easy way to promote several programs that I am in. The system comes with autoresponder messages, however, just this afternoon when I logged into the autoresponder account, I discovered I could not upload any leads I had purchased. I got a bit irritated at first, then did some research online and found another autoresponder service that did allow the upload of purchased leads.

'Great', I thought. The only problem I was now faced with was how to transfer and reconfigure 216 email messages to this new service...

I tried sending the emails as test messages (I did not have a copy of them on my hard drive). That seemed to work for the first 50. Then I got a message that I could not test any more emails that hour. The autoresponder service seemed to think I still had a free account, even though I had upgraded a day ago. Mild frustration began to creep in again. I sent off a few more emails, but didn't want to wait on support to get back to me. So, I went back to square 1 - copy and paste each email message, all 216.

I decided a zen-like attitude would serve me best here. And scanning through the titles and the content of each message as I copied and pasted (they were not written by me, rather by a more experienced marketer), I really began to learn a lot more, about the way headings were used, trigger words, and all those things I had read about in marketing books and ezines.

'Cool', I thought, 'This isn't so bad after all'.

Then, of course, my computer stopped registering the right click of the mouse on the web page. I had spilled warm coffee all over my desk a couple of months ago, and my laptop hasn't been as happy as it once was since that time. Now, it seems, was one of those times. Fortunately for me, I had discovered that the simultaneous use of 'Ctrl' and 'C' on the keyboard copied data to the clipboard as well. So, that problem was also solved. (I could have restarted my computer, but didn't want to have to reopen and log in to everything again).

The point of all this is that even with time saving or pre-supplied business elements, things can still go wrong. Or they may need some ingenuity to breathe new life into them. Take PLR articles - instead of just uploading them to a website unchanged, or even hiring someone to rewrite them, why not turn them into an ebook, ecourse, or report to use for viral marketing?

Instead of looking at the negative consequences of a problem or dilemma facing you at a given time, why not look for the opportunities that are hidden there as well. Changing our perspective, thinking laterally, can transform both our marketing and our business.