fe usually loses games.

2) Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with the territory.

Cut your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something. You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.

The more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke wa

In the Columbia Pictures film Gridiron Gang, juvenile probation officer Dwayne Johnson challenged his not-yet-hardened teens to become winners by working together as a football team. He wanted to give these boys a second chance at life by turning them into men. It's the classic story of individual transformation from "me" to "us."

One of the star players was running back Willie Weathers. In the beginning of their season he was unable to take a tackle. He was scared of the hit and usually fumbled the ball. The opposing team's tacklers would humiliate, embarrass and talk trash in his face. Definitely no respect.

During practice, Coach Johnson personally challenged Willie to run straight at him and knock him back on his butt. Willie charged at the coach, but got knocked down instead. He picked himself up and charged again, but got knocked down again.

You could see the tide turn as Willie's teammates—who chided him at first—began to side with him because he didn't give up. After many attempts Willie finally knocked his coach down and earned his team's respect, his coach's respect and some self-respect. Willie was not only able to take a tackle, but dish out a hit at the same time.

But that's just half the story...

While learning to work as a team, these gangster wannabes and street toughs experienced a change of heart. Instead of labeling everyone else as an enemy, they began to watch each other's back. They found the potential for human good far outweighed the negative circumstances in life.

How does this translate into your business?

The same principles that transform a street gangster into a team winner also apply in business. It is these applied principles that continually make winners when many others decide to quit.

1) Nothing comes easy. The world does not beat a path to your door. You must go after it. You must continually market your products or services. There's no autopilot button. Even your website needs an action plan to drive traffic to it.

Sure you should hire consultants who can help you get to profits sooner. And sure you should attend seminars, workshops and network with others. But please don't believe a one-time investment for Search Engine Optimization is the end-all, be-all answer to your online marketing challenges.

And when you're raking in your first big paycheck: that's not the time to stop marketing your business. Use the revenues and success stories from that venture to leverage your next marketing promotion. In football, scoring one touchdown usually doesn't win the game. If you have a 7-0 lead, stalling and playing it safe usually loses games.

2) Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with the territory.

Cut your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something. You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.

The more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke was

rsonally challenged Willie to run straight at him and knock him back on his butt. Willie charged at the coach, but got knocked down instead. He picked himself up and charged again, but got knocked down again.

You could see the tide turn as Willie's teammates—who chided him at first—began to side with him because he didn't give up. After many attempts Willie finally knocked his coach down and earned his team's respect, his coach's respect and some self-respect. Willie was not only able to take a tackle, but dish out a hit at the same time.

But that's just half the story...

While learning to work as a team, these gangster wannabes and street toughs experienced a change of heart. Instead of labeling everyone else as an enemy, they began to watch each other's back. They found the potential for human good far outweighed the negative circumstances in life.

How does this translate into your business?

The same principles that transform a street gangster into a team winner also apply in business. It is these applied principles that continually make winners when many others decide to quit.

1) Nothing comes easy. The world does not beat a path to your door. You must go after it. You must continually market your products or services. There's no autopilot button. Even your website needs an action plan to drive traffic to it.

Sure you should hire consultants who can help you get to profits sooner. And sure you should attend seminars, workshops and network with others. But please don't believe a one-time investment for Search Engine Optimization is the end-all, be-all answer to your online marketing challenges.

And when you're raking in your first big paycheck: that's not the time to stop marketing your business. Use the revenues and success stories from that venture to leverage your next marketing promotion. In football, scoring one touchdown usually doesn't win the game. If you have a 7-0 lead, stalling and playing it safe usually loses games.

2) Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with the territory.

Cut your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something. You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.

The more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke wa

et toughs experienced a change of heart. Instead of labeling everyone else as an enemy, they began to watch each other's back. They found the potential for human good far outweighed the negative circumstances in life.

How does this translate into your business?

The same principles that transform a street gangster into a team winner also apply in business. It is these applied principles that continually make winners when many others decide to quit.

1) Nothing comes easy. The world does not beat a path to your door. You must go after it. You must continually market your products or services. There's no autopilot button. Even your website needs an action plan to drive traffic to it.

Sure you should hire consultants who can help you get to profits sooner. And sure you should attend seminars, workshops and network with others. But please don't believe a one-time investment for Search Engine Optimization is the end-all, be-all answer to your online marketing challenges.

And when you're raking in your first big paycheck: that's not the time to stop marketing your business. Use the revenues and success stories from that venture to leverage your next marketing promotion. In football, scoring one touchdown usually doesn't win the game. If you have a 7-0 lead, stalling and playing it safe usually loses games.

2) Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with the territory.

Cut your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something. You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.

The more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke wa

eeds an action plan to drive traffic to it.

Sure you should hire consultants who can help you get to profits sooner. And sure you should attend seminars, workshops and network with others. But please don't believe a one-time investment for Search Engine Optimization is the end-all, be-all answer to your online marketing challenges.

And when you're raking in your first big paycheck: that's not the time to stop marketing your business. Use the revenues and success stories from that venture to leverage your next marketing promotion. In football, scoring one touchdown usually doesn't win the game. If you have a 7-0 lead, stalling and playing it safe usually loses games.

2) Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with the territory.

Cut your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something. You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.

The more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke wa

fe usually loses games.

2) Persevere. You're probably going to get sidetracked, taken advantage of, and talked bad about. Or you'll order a warehouse-load of widgets, but the marketplace can buy that same widget from Wal-Mart cheaper. Or your marketing campaign went south and never looked back. Sometimes these circumstances come with the territory.

Cut your losses and get back on track. Solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't want to spend too much time fixing something. You want to get back to making profits as soon as possible.

The more you dwell on a problem—the more you're tempted to give up. When Coca-Cola saw New Coke was tanking, they went back to their moneymaker: Classic Coke. They cut their losses and returned to profitability.

3) Avoiding cutting yourself short. When you hire a consultant or purchase a program to help you save time and money, that's a good investment. But let's say you need more personalized coaching that could help you reach your next business goals sooner—but you decide not to get it (for whatever reason). You're not going to make much progress. And this stagnation has a tendency to work against you.

Ford and General Motors have been #1 and #2 for as long as I've been alive. Then Toyota came into the picture and is now dominating the world auto industry. But this didn't happen overnight. Were Ford and GM sleeping at the wheel living off their past success while a hungrier Toyota won the favor and pocketbooks of consumers?

4) You don't always win. You send out various promotions and most of the time, they're profitable. Sometimes they're dismal. And at times, you wonder if the mail clerks were on strike, or if the computer servers were down, or if they misprinted your phone number in the ad.

Just because you showed up doesn't guarantee you're going to have a winner. The marketplace will decide that for you. You will gain more experience, savviness and stickiness by making mistakes than by reading a book. Use the books and resources as head knowledge, while playing in the marketplace becomes heart knowledge.

I believe everyone who plays in the business game will be knocked around, verbally abused, passed over, ripped off, plagued with doubts and even question their own resolve. The ones who get back up and stay in the game to make something of themselves and to the people they serve become winners. The choice becomes ours.

Tommy Yan helps business owners and entrepreneurs make more money through direct response marketing. He publishes Tommy's Tease weekly e-zine to inspire people to succeed in business and personal growth. Get your free subscription today at www.TommyYan.com.