Though Nelson Mandela has left the mortal world, his life – a true legend – has many immortal messages to teach us. You don’t have to be a politician or a world leader, even entrepreneurs and internet marketers have a lot to learn from this legendary statesman.
Below are some of the lessons that every internet marketer can learn from Nelson Mandela.
Keep Learning. Be an Ardent Learner.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Mandela always put an emphasis on learning and continued to learn throughout his entire life. This is equally true in the ever-changing world of Internet marketing. What worked a few years back are now useless (or black hat) tactics. The market and its trends are constantly changing, thus every marketer must keep learning to stay up to date on the latest tactics.
Always Dream Big.
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
Though he spoke these words in terms of living your life, it can also be taken in the context of business growth and success. Mandela always dreamed big. He never ever settled for less. When he first dreamed of freedom and prosperity for South Africa, it was unthinkable to many of this countrymen. But his passionate belief turned his dream into his nation’s reality.
As a marketer, you shouldn’t settle for less either. Suppose you have high sales in the local market and your campaigns are doing really well for certain audiences – why wouldn’t it work nationally, even globally? Dream bigger and work hard to create your own reality. Start by researching how audiences from the other parts of the world react to marketing. Learn about their culture, what keeps them moving, and how you can really reach their hearts to convince them to buy your product. Don’t settle for less just because it is easier!
Don’t Be Satisfied with Just One Success.
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
So, your internet marketing campaign turned out to be successful? It worked out marvelously well? That’s great, but you shouldn’t let your success turn into complacency. Just one batch of visitors won’t help your business succeed in the long run. For long-term online success, you need a never-ending stream of target audiences visiting your sites and more and more of them converting into customers.
So, whether it was a certain marketing tactics, a specific target audience, or a particular product that really took off, don’t stop! Be ready for newer tactics, newer audience types, different products, and so on.
Remember with every new success you are more enlightened. You’ve learned more and turned into a better marketer.
Never Give Up. Be an Optimist.
“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward… I would not and could not give myself up to despair…”
At some point, you will face some really bad failures. Sometimes, these failures may come in a row and you may start feeling like a failure. Instead, take Mr. Mandela’s advice – continue moving forward and stay optimistic. Evaluate your failures to learn why they happened and make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot we can learn from Nelson Mandela, a remarkably immortal soul. Discussing every aspect of his life and the lessons he could teach is quite beyond the scope of this article. However, the lessons we discussed above really do apply to our world and will surely turn a few internet marketers into die-hard seekers of success!
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